Family resemblances are not uncommon – but the striking similarities between and one of his more obscure relatives have recently caused quite a stir among royal fans. Charles Spencer, the brother of the late , took to earlier this week to of his father in his Royal Scots Greys uniform, taken in the 1952 at the state funeral of George VI. ‘My father, in military mode, 70 years ago,’ he wrote in the caption.
Plenty of the earl's followers noted the fascinating provenance of the picture, with one commenting: ‘What a treasure trove of beautiful family photos’. However, some eagle-eyed fans spotted an uncanny likeness between the late Edward John Spencer and a certain young royal. ‘Prince George looks a lot like him,’ wrote one Instagram user, while another agreed: ‘He really does!’ The two share the same strong jawline, which has also been inherited by George's father, .
Born Viscount , Edward John Spencer – known as Johnnie to his friends – was the youngest child and only son of Albert and Cynthia Spencer. With the future King Edward VIII as his godfather, he grew up in aristocratic splendour in west , later attending Eton, Sandhurst and the Royal Agricultural College. He went on to serve as a captain in the Royal Scots Greys, and landed in France after D-Day, helping to liberate two French towns – La Neuve-Lyre and La Vieille-Lyre – from German rule.
As one of the most desirable bachelors of the day, Spencer's engagement to the 1950's debutante of the year, Lady Anne Coke, was seemingly a match made in society heaven. However, Coke's grandmother was a Trefusis – and related to the mother of Nerissa and Katherine Bowes-Lyon, the institutionalised cousins of . Spencer's father objected to the marriage on the grounds of ‘mad blood’, and the engagement was broken off.
Coke later went on to be a lady-in-waiting for and married Colin Tennant, becoming Baroness Glenconner. Spencer went on to find love with Frances Ruth Roche, the youngest daughter of the fourth Baron Fermoy, whom he married at Abbey in 1954 in a ceremony attended by the Queen and other . Together, they had five children: Sarah, Jane, John, Diana and Charles.
However, the marriage was not a happy one, and in 1969, they divorced. Roche remarried Peter Shand Kydd, heir to a wallpaper fortune in , while Spencer coupled up with Raine McCorquodale, daughter of the romantic novelist, Barbara Cartland. She was not a popular addition to the Spencer clan – Diana and her siblings were said to refer to their new stepmother as ‘Acid Raine’.
In 1978, Spencer suffered a severe stroke, which kept him in hospital for eight months. He died of a heart attack in 1992 and was succeeded by his only surviving son, Charles, who became the ninth . His legacy lives on, however, in the relatives he left behind – particularly his young great-grandson, who has unquestionably inherited his regal good looks.
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