Kensington Palace doled out a ton of royal wedding information this morning, in an official statement that announced who will walk Meghan Markle down the aisle, how she'll be escorted to her ceremony, upcoming announcements to expect (we will finally find out who the bridesmaids and page boys are!), and how the couple will remember Princess Diana, Harry's late mother, in their ceremony. Per the statement, Diana's sister, Lady Jane Fellowes, will recite a reading at the ceremony, to pay homage to Harry's mother and her family.
"In addition to having the support of The Queen, his father The Prince of Wales, and his brother Prince William as Best Man, Prince Harry is also keen to involve his mother's family in his wedding. All three siblings of Diana, Princess of Wales will be in attendance and Lady Jane Fellowes will give the reading. Prince Harry and Ms. Markle both feel honoured that Lady Jane will be representing her family and helping to celebrate the memory of the late Princess on the wedding day."
But who, might you ask, is Lady Jane Fellowes? It's a name you likely have never heard, at least not for decades. As Town & Country reports, Diana's two sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, have largely stepped out of the spotlight since their sister's tragic death in 1997. However, both are expected to attend Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle this month.
Diana was one of four siblings; Sarah, the eldest, was apparently responsible for introducing Diana to Prince Charles, who she briefly dated in 1977, T&C reports. Per The Guardian, McCorquodale reportedly called herself "cupid," when the couple announced their engagement in 1981, and seemed to take no issue with her sister's plans to marry her ex. McCorquodale married her husband, Neil McCorquodale, in 1980 shortly before Diana and Charles' royal wedding.
Lady Jane, the second sibling in the Spencer family (and also older than Diana) is even less familiar to the public. Most notably, she was the only Spencer sibling that declined to participate in the recent BBC documentary about Diana's life, according to Town & Country. But, it seems, that Lady Jane was the closest to her sister in adulthood, although Diana and Sarah were also rumored to have shared a special bond.
It was Lady Jane who was first told the news about her sister's tragic death, and who accompanied Prince Charles with her sister Sarah to fetch Diana's body from Paris for burial. Lady Jane also recited a poem by Henry Van Dyke Jr. at Diana's funeral, making the choice for her to do a reading at Harry's wedding that much more apropos.
Lady Jane's husband, Robert Fellowes, was the Private Secretary to The Queen from 1990-1999, and Lady Jane took the title of Baronness at the end of his tenure, when Robert was appointed a Baron and inducted into the House of Lords.
Per Town & Country, "This influential job involved being the main channel of communication between the monarch and government, as well as overseeing the Queen’s program and correspondence. It has been suggested by some royal biographers that Jane’s position as both Diana’s sister and Robert’s wife left her in a difficult position when Charles and Diana's marriage was ending."
It appears that Lady Jane and her family are the most connected with Diana's surviving children, William and Harry. Lady Jane’s daughter, Laura Fellowes, was chosen by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to be a godmother to Princess Charlotte. Her discretion and subtlety may also be the reasoning for her family's close relationship with the Windsor family; per The Telegraph, Lady Jane has only spoken to the media once since Diana's passing, when she spoke to The Lady magazine about Only Connect, a charity which she and Prince Harry are involved with. Both Sarah and Earl, Diana's other siblings spoke out about the media's involvement in their sister's death, while Jane chose to keep quiet and under the radar.
William and Harry, it appears, have remained close to both their aunts, but Lady Jane was selected by Harry and Meghan to represent the Spencer family in the ceremony's proceedings at their wedding at Windsor Castle on May 19th. Other Spencer family contributions could also include the loaning of The Spencer Tiara, which Diana wore on her wedding day and is now in the possession of her brother, Harry's uncle Earl Spencer. Should Meghan choose to wear the piece down the aisle, Town & Country reports she will have the option to loan it for her special day.
Carrie Goldberg is HarpersBAZAAR.com’s Weddings & Travel Director. She oversees the site’s BAZAAR Bride channel, travel & dining content, and styles fashion and bridal editorials for BAZAAR.com. When she’s not traveling, she spends her free time in her hometown–New York City–where there is no shortage of new places to shop, eat, drink, see and explore.
