She was indeed an extraordinary woman, whose life is told here with great panache by Tina Gaudoin, a former magazine editor. Gaudoin occasionally goes into little rants about how Raine was always under-estimated because she was a woman, but they only add to the fun. This is a sparkling biography of a fascinating woman. Raine, then the Comtesse de Chambrun (left), with her stepdaughter, Diana, Princess of Wales in 1997

Nobody reads anything. What really matters is how I look': Raine Spencer (then Mrs Gerald Legge) in London, 1953 And suddenly she was friends with Princess Diana. Diana made the first move, inviting her to lunch, and soon they were phoning each other every day and calling each other “darling”. Raine was one of the first people to learn of Diana’s death. The BBC announced that Dodi Al Fayed had been killed in the Paris car crash, but Diana was in hospital with minor injuries. Michael Cole, who worked for Mohammed Al Fayed, had been frantically phoning the Salpetriere Hospital to ask for news but the hospital refused to tell him anything because he wasn’t family. Then he remembered that his good friend Raine was family, and got her to ring the hospital, who told her Diana was dead. Tina Gaudoin sets out to rehabilitate Raine as a far more nuanced woman, an insouciant, sexy survivor uncredited for her many achievements . . . A colourful life. * The Times *Ongoing Covid restrictions, reduced air and freight capacity, high volumes and winter weather conditions are all impacting transportation and local delivery across the globe. Equity release may involve a lifetime mortgage or a home reversion plan. To understand the features and risks, ask for a personalised illustration. From upper-middle-class Berkshire schoolgirl, to Westminster councillor, Countess and perhaps most famously, wife of Earl Spencer, Three Times a Countess recounts Raine's scintillating, sometimes scandalous life, demystifying her scathing tabloid reputation and revealing how, after a tumultuous relationship with the Princess, she became Diana's closest confidante. Of course, I love the tasty bits of gossip, I’m sure most people do, but this book shows you so much more. Raine Spencer was not just a very pretty face. This book is a vindication, both of Raine herself and of a type of person - of woman - whom it became uncool to value * TLS *

She looked much the same, well into her eighties. She never had “work” on her face but slathered it with jojoba oil three times a day and always kept out of the sun. (She told one host who offered lunch on the terrace, “I don’t do outside”.) Her hairdresser reported that she had “unbelievable breasts”, like a girl’s, and she told him it was because she had never worn a bra. It was only when she was 86 that she suddenly lost weight and started to look frail. “I’ve got a little cancer, dear and it’s spread to the bones,” she confided to a friend. She died at home on October 21 2016.

Belgravia Books on Instagram

When Johnny did eventually die, poor Raine was shunted out of Althorp within 24 hours and even refused suitcases to put her clothes in… she left with car loads of bin liners.