All About Princess Diana’s Sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Who Dated King Charles First

Bailey BujnosekWed, July 29, 2026 at 12:40 PM UTC

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Princess Diana with her sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, at West Heath school in November 1987.Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty ImagesThe Gist -

Princess Diana’s older sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, dated Prince Charles from 1977 to 1978.

After the couple broke things off, Charles went on to marry her sister, Princess Diana. They divorced in 1996, and Diana died in 1997.

Today, Sarah continues to be close to Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, although she stays out of the spotlight and makes only rare appearances with her nephews.

It was Princess Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, that introduced her to future husband Prince Charles. Rather than acquainting them with the intention of setting them up, Sarah was letting her then-boyfriend meet the family. She dated Charles before Diana, though their romance lasted less than a year.

Sarah and Charles reportedly met at a house party at Windsor Castle in early 1977. (As members of the noble Spencer family, Diana and her siblings ran in exclusive circles from childhood.) After hitting it off, they went on dates: polo matches, hunting trips, and skiing holidays abroad. “Charles makes me laugh a lot. I really enjoy being with him,” she was quoted as saying in TIME in May 1978. Yet, she added, “there is no chance of my marrying him. I’m not in love with him. And I wouldn’t marry anyone I didn’t love whether he were the dustman or the King of England.”

Prince Charles with girlfriend Lady Sarah Spencer at a polo match in July 1977 in Windsor.Credit: Getty Images

This comment caused a stir in the press, and is widely believed to be part of the reason Sarah and the future king broke things off in early 1978. Charles had met Diana in 1977, recalling his first impression of her in their 1981 engagement interview. “I remember thinking what a very jolly and amusing and attractive 16-year-old she was,” he said.

Diana’s notoriously rocky relationship with Charles ended in divorce in 1996, one year before Diana’s unexpected death following a Paris car crash. In the decades since, Sarah has stayed out of the spotlight—making the occasional rare public appearances with her nephews, Diana’s sons Prince William and Prince Harry.

Ahead, learn more about Lady Sarah McCorquodale, including her relationship with Diana and where she is now.

Lady Sarah was born in 1955, and is the eldest of the Spencer children.

Lady Sarah Spencer attending Ascot races in June 1977.Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library/Getty Images

Sarah was born Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia Spencer on March 19, 1955, at Park House on the Sandringham estate. Her parents, John and Frances Spencer, would go on to welcome daughters Lady Jane Fellowes and Diana, and son Charles, 9th Earl Spencer. They also had another son named John, who died shortly after birth, according to People.

John and Frances divorced in 1969, with the children’s father awarded sole custody. At this time, Sarah and her younger sister Jane were away at boarding schools, meaning they didn’t spend as much time with Diana as their younger brother Charles. “Diana and I had two older sisters who were away at school, so she and I were very much in it together,” Charles Spencer told The Sunday Times in 2020.

She called herself ‘Cupid’ for introducing Charles and Diana—and got married a year before them.

Lady Sarah McCorquodale at the wedding of Alexander Fellowes on September 20, 2013.Credit: Mark Cuthbert/UK Press via Getty Images

Despite having her own romance with Prince Charles, Sarah had moved on by the time he got engaged to her younger sister. Upon the announcement that the royal couple were engaged in February 1981, Sarah told the press (via The Guardian), “I introduced them. I’m Cupid.” She herself had married Neil Edmund McCorquodale a little under a year prior, in May 1980, according to TheStandard.

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Sarah and Neil share three children: Emily, George, and Celia. They also have seven grandchildren, per The Standard.

Sarah served as one of Diana’s ladies-in-waiting, and their children played together.

Princess Diana with her sons, niece, and nephew, playing in the sand on Necker Island in April 1990.Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

As adults, Sarah and her younger sister Diana got to know one another on a deeper level. During official visits, the former would sometimes accompany the princess as one of her ladies-in-waiting, per Tatler. They also had playdates and family holidays where all the Spencer family children could spend time together—including a 1990 trip to Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands.

The cousins continue to be close today, with Diana’s sons, William and Harry, attending Sarah’s daughter Emily’s wedding in 2012. Harry and wife Meghan Markle also attended Sarah’s daughter Celia’s wedding in 2018.

She was president of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

After news broke of Diana’s death in August 1997, at the age of 36, Sarah and her sister Jane traveled to Paris with Prince Charles to bring Diana’s body home to England for burial, per AP News. She also gave a reading at Diana’s funeral service.

As a way to honor her late sister’s memory, Sarah became president of the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund from September 1997 until its dissolution in 2012. It donated over £100 million (approximately $130 million) to 350 charities, per The Telegraph. Though Sarah is private about her remembrance of Diana and their past, in 2004, she, Jane, and Charles Spencer had a rare public reunion at the opening of Diana’s memorial fountain in London’s Hyde Park.

She’s made appearances with Prince William and Prince Harry over the years.

Neil McCorquodale and Lady Sarah McCorquodale at Prince Harry’s 2018 wedding.Credit: Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images

While Diana’s sons are reportedly in the middle of a royal rift, their aunt has remained close to both of them. Sarah attended William’s 2011 wedding to Kate Middleton and Harry’s 2018 wedding to Meghan Markle. She also appeared in a photo from Harry and Meghan’s son Archie’s christening in 2019.

As for where she is now, various sources report that the former Lady Sarah Spencer, now Sarah McCorquodale, lives in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

In October 2025, Charles Spencer shared that Sarah had been hospitalized following a “really bad fall” off her horse. A friend told People at the time that 70-year-old Sarah was “on the mend.”

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