Father: Edward John 8th Earl Spencer (1924-1992)
Mother: Frances Ruth Burke Roche
The Prince and Late Princess of Wales were in fact seventh cousins, through their common ancestor William Cavendish, 3rd Duke of Devonshire (1698-1755)
Princess Diana's ancestral aunt Lady Georgiana Spencer, Duchess of Devonshire (1757-1806) was also renowned for her beauty and charm. Lady Georgiana's friendship with the Prince of Wales (later George IV) caused gossip, especially when she became pregnant. Her husband the 5th Duke of Devonshire discovered it was her lover Charles 2nd Earl Grey's child. Georgiana gave birth to a daughter named Eliz Courtney, in exile. A portrait by Joshua Reynolds of Lady Georgiana Spencer as a child with her mother shows the strong ancestral facial beauty with the late Princess Diana. The portrait showing the mother hugging the child with a dog pulling on her dress for attention.
Apparently the late Diana was not the only member in the Spencer family to dislike pomp and circumstance her ancestor Earl Charles Spencer who married Lady Anne Churchill, refused to be addressed as anything but 'Charles Spencer'. He also said "I hope to see the day when there should not be a peer in England".
The American connection was from Diana's great great grandparents, Frank Work and his wife Ellen Wood, who lived in New York. Their daughter Frances married James Boothby Burke, 3rd Baron Fermoy. Their son, Edmund Maurice, was the 4th Baron Fermoy and father of Francis Ruth Burke, Diana's mother.
