Diana, Princess of Wales

Princess Diana in 1987, photo by Prphotos.com

Birth Name: Diana Frances Spencer

Date of Birth: 1 July, 1961

Place of Birth: Kings Lynn, Norfolk, England, U.K.

Date of Death: 31 August, 1997

Place of Death: Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris, France

Ethnicity: English, Scottish, some Irish, Anglo-Irish, French, German, likely 1/64th or 1/128th Gujarati Indian, and smaller amounts of Dutch, European Royal, Welsh, Danish, Channel Islander/Jersey, Belgian, possibly 1/128th Armenian

Diana, Princess of Wales was a British royal and activist. She was married to King Charles III, before he ascended to the throne, and was the mother of William, Prince of Wales, the heir apparent to the British throne, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and the grandmother of Prince George of Wales and Prince Archie of Sussex.

Princess Diana was the daughter of The Honourable Frances Ruth Burke (Roche) and Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer. She was of mostly English, as well as Scottish, ancestry. She had smaller amounts of Irish, Anglo-Irish, French, and German, roots, as well as likely 1/64th Indian (through her matrilineal line), ancestry, and even more distant Dutch, European Royal, Welsh, Danish, Channel Islander [Jersey], and Belgian forebears.

Her grandmothers were ladies-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Princess Diana is widely believed by DNA researchers to have a matrilineal ancestor, Eliza Kewark, who was Indian, or of Armenian (paternal) and Indian (maternal) descent; if this is the case, it would make Princess Diana of 1/64th or 1/128th Indian ancestry.

Princess Diana’s paternal grandfather was Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer (the son of Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, and of The Honorable Margaret Baring). Albert was born in London, England. Charles was the son of Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer, whose mother was born in Castlebar, Mayo, Ireland; and of Adelaide Horatia Elizabeth Seymour. Margaret was the daughter of Edward Charles Baring, 1st Baron Revelstoke, and of Louisa Emily Charlotte Bulteel.

Princess Diana’s paternal grandmother was Lady Cynthia Elinor Beatrix Hamilton Spencer (the daughter of James Albert Edward Hamilton, 3rd Duke of Abercorn, and of Lady Rosalind Cecilia Caroline Bingham). Lady Cynthia was born in London, England. James was the son of James Hamilton, 2nd Duke of Abercorn, and of Mary/Maria Anna (Curzon-Howe) Hamilton, Duchess of Abercorn. Lady Rosalind was the daughter of Charles George Bingham, 4th Earl of Lucan, and of Lady Cecilia Catherine Gordon-Lennox.

Princess Diana’s maternal grandfather was Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy (the son of James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy, and of Frances Ellen/Eleanor Work). Edmund was born in Chelsea, London. James was the son of Edmond/Edmund Burke Roche, 1st Baron Fermoy, who was born in Cork, Ireland; and of Elizabeth Caroline “Eliza” Boothby. Frances was an American heiress, and was born in New York City, New York, U.S., to parents from Chillicothe, Ross, Ohio, Franklin H. “Frank” Work, whose father was born in Plymouth, Devonshire, England, and Ellen Wood.

Princess Diana’s maternal grandmother was Ruth Sylvia Gill Roche, Baroness Fermoy (the daughter of William Smith Gill and Ruth Littlejohn). Princess Diana’s grandmother Ruth was born in Dalhebity, Bielside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, to a family mostly from the Aberdeen area. William was the son of Alexander Ogston Gill and Barbara Smith Marr. Princess Diana’s great-grandmother Ruth was the daughter of David Littlejohn and Jane Crombie, whose own mother, Katherine Scott Forbes, was born in Surat, India.

Princess Diana was a second cousin, once removed, of American actor Oliver Platt. Her maternal great-grandparents, James Boothby Burke Roche, 3rd Baron Fermoy, and Frances Ellen Work, were also Oliver’s maternal great-great-grandparents.

Princes Diana was also a fourth cousin, twice removed, of actress and comedian Miranda Hart and adventurer Bear Grylls. Princess Diana’s great-great-great-grandparents George Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, a Whig politician, and Lavinia Spencer, Countess Spencer, an illustrator, were also the maternal five times great-grandparents of Miranda and Bear.

Sources: http://celebrities.top5.com
http://abcnews.go.com

Genealogies of Diana, Princess of Wales – https://www.geni.com
http://famouskin.com
https://www.wikitree.com
https://www.famechain.com

Genealogy of Diana, Princess of Wales (through her son, Prince William) – http://www.wargs.com

Article about Princes Diana’s ancestor, Eliza Kewark – https://www.telegraphindia.com

Princess Diana at the Leonardo Prize ceremony, 1995, by Nick Parfjonov, Wikipedia Commons