SINCE the death of her sister Princess Diana, Lady Jane Fellowes has retreated from the public eye.
While she remains out of the spotlight, she is still present at key moments for the Royal Family.
Who is Lady Jane Fellowes?
Lady Jane Fellowes, 66, is one of the two older sisters of the late Princess of Wales.
Her parents, Edward John Spencer and Frances Ruth Burke Roche, divorced in 1969 – when Jane was 12 and Diana was just seven years old.
Like Diana and their other sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Jane attended West Heath boarding school in Sevenoaks, Kent.
A school prefect, she is said to be the most academically gifted of the three Spencer sisters.
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What other connections does Baroness Fellowes have with the Royal Family?
In April 1978, Jane married her distant relation, Robert Fellowes, who was then assistant private secretary to the Queen.
Diana was a bridesmaid at the wedding ceremony, which was held at Westminster Abbey.
In 1990, Robert was promoted to the Queen's number one private secretary – a job that involved being the main channel of communication between the monarch and the government – in addition to overseeing the Queen's schedule and correspondence.
It has been suggested by some royal biographers that Jane’s position – as Diana’s sister and Robert’s wife – left her in a difficult position when Diana's marriage was ending.
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The Fellowes' link with the Royal Family has since extended to the next generation; Lady Jane’s daughter, Laura Fellowes, was chosen by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to be a godmother to Princess Charlotte.
What was her relationship with Diana like?
According to Earl and Lady Sarah Spencer, it was Jane who informed them about Diana’s death in the early hours of the morning on August 31, 1997.
They both recalled the traumatic moment in a BBC documentary, in which Lady Jane did not participate in.
After accompanying her sister Sarah and Prince Charles to bring Diana’s body back from Paris, Lady Jane read a poem by Henry Van Dyke Jr at her funeral.
However, there were conflicting views surrounding the sisters' relationship following Diana's death.
Diana's former butler, Paul Burrell, maintained the sisters' bond was strained due to Lord Fellowes' position as the Queen's secretary.
Burrell further claimed the sisters hadn't spoken "in a number of years" prior to Diana's death.
There's no evidence to suggest whether or not their relationship deteriorated, but Diana and Jane were neighbours on the Kensington Palace estate, where Diana lived at numbers eight and nine, and Jane occupied a house called the Old Barracks.
Lady Fellowes also attended the wedding of her nephew Prince William to Kate Middleton in 2011.
She was reported to be one of the first people to meet her nephew Prince Harry's son Archie.
Who is Lady Jane Fellowes' husband Robert?
Robert Fellowes was the assistant private secretary to the late Queen from 1990 -1999.
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.
Robert received the Queen Elizabeth II Version of the Royal Household Long and Faithful Service Medal in 1997 for 20 years of service to the Royal Family.
He remained an Extra Equerry to the late Queen up until her death in September 2022.
He was portrayed by actor Andrew Havill in seasons five and six of The Crown.
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Does Lady Jane Fellowes have any children?
Robert and Lady Jane have three children: Laura and Eleanor, and a son, Alexander.
Laura is Princess Charlotte's godmother.
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