Princess Diana's fraught relationship with her stepmother, Raine Spencer, underwent a dramatic transformation in the years before her death, according to new details from her former butler, Paul Burrell. Diana, who once called Raine a 'bully' and 'Acid Raine', later came to see her as a source of support after her divorce from Prince Charles.
Burrell told Inside Edition that Diana explained her change of heart by saying she 'just wanted to say thank you to Raine for looking after father and for loving him so much'. He added that Diana 'didn't realise until later in life exactly how much she did love him and care for him'. The reconciliation came after years of animosity, during which Diana reportedly pushed Raine down the stairs in 1989.
The tension began when Raine married Diana's father, Earl John Spencer, when Diana was just 15. Diana and her siblings taunted Raine with chants of 'Raine, Raine, go away!' and resented her for selling family heirlooms and renovating the Althorp estate. However, after Diana's divorce and the death of her father, the two women bonded over their shared experiences as outcasts from aristocratic families.
Raine herself reflected on their relationship at Diana's inquest, noting that many people wanted something from Diana because of her fame, making it a 'very draining life'. Burrell described the turnaround as a 'full 180-degree turn' from Diana's earlier feelings, which she had described as 'very unhappy' and 'very unstable' in Andrew Morton's 1992 book.
