The other Diana
Sir: A.N. Wilson revealed an unaccustomed lapse from his normal level of scholarship in his Diary (19 November). It was not Topham Beauclerk who divorced his wife (née Lady Diana Spencer) but the lady's former husband, Frederick, Viscount Bol- ingbroke. This makes Dr Johnson's remark, `The woman's a whore, and there's an end on't', even more uncharitable, for he was referring to the present wife, not to the ex- wife of his close friend Beauclerk.
Lady Diana Spencer was a young lady of impeccable breeding and reputation. Her marriage to Bolingbroke, an eligible aristo- crat, seemed a fairy tale. But after the mar- riage he continued to see his former lover, the married Lady Coventry. Lady Diana worked as a member of the royal house- hold, but eventually left Bolingbroke, fell in love with Beauclerk, and divorced; the details of her adultery with him were widely and sensationally broadcast in the popular press. Following her marriage to Beauclerk, she was accepted into his more intellectual circles, and found personal fulfilment as an artist and designer.
`Oh, good! The fat lady is going to sing.'
Although writing her biography, I draw no parallels with an indirect descendant of the same name and family.
Carola Hicks
Newnham College, Cambridge
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