Who is Princess Diana’s sister, Lady Jane Fellowes? She just joined her brother Charles Spencer to support Prince Harry at his Invictus Games event and reportedly met Archie before William did

May 12 , 2024

Lady Jane Fellowes with her sister Princess Diana in happier times, and today. Photos: @diana.princess.of.our.hearts/Instagram; Getty Images

Princess Diana’s siblings reunited at an Invictus Games service in London on May 8, where they showed their support for their nephew Prince Harry, as reported by British media.

Lady Jane Fellowes and Earl Charles Spencer at The Invictus Games Foundation 10th Anniversary Service at St Paul’s Cathedral on May 8 in London, England. Photo: Indigo/Getty Images

While King Charles and Prince William didn’t attend the event to celebrate the charity’s 10th anniversary – amid a rumoured rift between Harry and his father and brother since the release of his tell-all memoir Spare – Harry didn’t seem to mind as he hugged his uncle Earl Spencer and aunt, Lady Jane Fellowes, according to reports in US media.

Lady Jane Fellowes, left, and Lady Sarah McCorquodale after collecting Princess Diana’s body. Photo: AP

While you may be familiar with Diana’s brother Earl Spencer – who has seven children from three marriages, including socialite sisters Lady Kitty Spencer and twins Lady Amelia and Eliza Spencer – less is known about one of the late princess’ older sisters, Lady Jane Fellowes.

Since her sister Princess Diana’s death, Lady Jane Fellowes has continued to support her nephews Princes William and Harry. Photo: AP

Here’s what we know about the 67-year-old Baroness Jane Fellowes:

Lady Jane Fellowes’ aristocratic background

Lady Jane Fellowes (middle, back row) in the official christening photograph with Prince Harry and Meghan with their son Archie in 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE

Lady Jane Fellowes is one of five children born to parents John Spencer and Frances Shand Kydd, per People. According to Oprah Daily, the Spencers have been a prominent family since the 15th and 16th century, after initially making their fortune from sheep farming.

Diana grew up with her two older sisters Lady Sarah McCorquodale (who dated Prince Charles before her), Lady Jane Fellowes, and their younger brother, Charles Spencer. They had an older brother, John Spencer, who died soon after he was born in 1960, People reports.

According to The Telegraph, Sarah and Diana were the outgoing ones growing up, while Jane was “sensitive and quiet, intelligent and well-read”. She passed 11 O-level exams while studying at boarding school. One source, a former Vogue editor who knew the sisters, noted that Diana and Jane “had remarkably similar voices, but character-wise, they were different”, per the publication.

Who is Lady Jane Fellowes’ husband?

Lady Jane Fellowes married her husband Robert Fellowes in 1978, according to Good Housekeeping. While Jane spent most of her time as a mother and philanthropist, Robert worked for Queen Elizabeth and eventually became the late monarch’s private secretary in 1990, the magazine reports. According to Hello! Magazine, Jane and Robert are in fact distant relatives. Robert is the first cousin of Ronald Ferguson, the Duchess of York’s father – he also has a distant connection to Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes.

How many children does Lady Jane Fellowes have?

The then Prince of Wales with Princess Diana’s sisters, Lady Jane Fellowes (left) and Lady Sarah McCorquodale in 1997 shortly after Diana’s death. Photo: AP

Per People, due to her husband’s job, Jane lived in Kensington Palace at the same time Diana was there with her then-husband Prince Charles and sons Harry and William. People adds that Jane and Robert share three children together: Laura, Alexander, and Eleanor.

Per Hello!, their daughter Laura, a cousin to Prince William, is a godmother to him and Kate Middleton’s daughter, Princess Charlotte.

Is Lady Jane Fellowes close with Prince Harry and Prince William?

Prince Harry with his aunt Lady Jane Fellowes and uncle Earl Spencer during the unveiling of a statue of Diana, Princess of Wales in 2021 in London. photo: WPA Pool/Getty Images

British media reports that Lady Jane Fellowes is indeed close with her late sister’s children.

Frances Shand Kydd and her daughters Jane and Sarah at Westminster Abbey during the funeral service for Diana, Princess of Wales. Photo: AFP

Lady Fellowes was requested to give a speech at Harry’s high-profile wedding to Meghan Markle in 2018. She also made the news when it was revealed she had met Meghan and Harry’s first son, Archie, before William had.

Did Princess Diana get along with her sisters?

Meghan Markle’s mum Doria Ragland, King Charles, Jane Fellowes, Prince William, Queen Camilla, Kate Middleton and Princess Charlotte pictured together in 2018. Photo: WPA Pool/Getty Images

While numerous reports indicate that Diana did have a good relationship with her sisters – she was a bridesmaid at Jane’s wedding, per Us Weekly – things reportedly began to deteriorate in the later years of the princess’ life.

Princess Diana, pictured here in 1995, reportedly barely spoke to her sister Jane in the last 18 months of her life. Photo: WireImage

As her relationship with Charles began to deteriorate, Robert Fellowes’ position as the queen’s private secretary made things difficult. According to People, the sisters “barely spoke in the last 18 months of Diana’s life, and Jane has never spoken publicly about the princess’ death.”

Royalty

Princess Diana’s siblings reunited at the Invictus Games anniversary service earlier this month, where they showed their support for their nephew Prince Harry
While you may be familiar with Diana’s brother Earl Spencer – whose children include Lady Kitty Spencer and twins Lady Amelia and Eliza Spencer – less is known about his sister, Lady Jane Fellowes