Peter Shand Kydd

Peter Shand Kydd was born on 23 April 1925. He was the son of Norman Shand Kydd (1895–1962), who established a wallpaper manufacturing business, and his mother was Frances Madalein Foy (1900–1983). Frances Madalein Foy's uncle was Mark Foy, an Australian businessman. Peter Shand Kydd had a half-brother, William Shand Kydd (1937–2014), who was known as a champion amateur jockey and was married to Christina Muriel Duncan, sister of Veronica Bingham, Countess of Lucan.

He married Janet Munro Kerr, who was a granddaughter of John Martin Munro Kerr. In 1962, Shand Kydd sold his family's wallpaper business and relocated to Australia, where he became a sheep farmer at a property called "Kooringa" near Young, New South Wales. After some years, he sold the property and returned to England.

While still married, Shand Kydd began an affair with Frances, Viscountess Althorp, who was married to John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, later the 8th Earl Spencer. Both Frances and the Viscount divorced their respective spouses and married Shand Kydd on 2 May 1969. Through this marriage, he became the stepfather to Frances's four children, including Diana, Princess of Wales. The couple resided in Buckinghamshire and West Itchenor, West Sussex, before settling on a 1,000-acre farm on the Scottish island of Seil. Their marriage ended in separation in June 1988, with Frances attributing the breakup to media pressure following Diana's rise to fame.

In 1993, Shand Kydd married Marie-Pierre Palmer (née Bécret), who was involved in a champagne-importing business in London. This marriage lasted until April 1995.

Peter Shand Kydd fathered three children with his first wife, Janet Munro Kerr. His eldest son, Adam Shand Kydd, born in 1954, became a novelist but died in Cambodia in 2004. His youngest son is John Shand Kydd.

Peter Shand Kydd died on 23 March 2006 at the age of 80. He was laid to rest in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, on 6 April 2006.