Prince William and Harry are mourning the loss of their great aunt Lady Anne Wake-Walker who has died at the age of 99 and a half years old.
Lady Anne was the sister of the Duke of Cambridge and the Duke of Sussex’s grandfather the late John Spencer and the aunt of their mother Princess Diana, who was killed in a car crash in 1997.
Charles Spencer, Princess Diana’s younger brother, announced the death of his aunt on Twitter alongside a picture of his home Althorp House with the flag flying at half mast.
He wrote: “The Spencer flag at half-mast at @AlthorpHouse today, marking the death of my father’s older sister (& only sibling) Anne, aged 99 1/2. An officer in the WRENS in World War 2, she was the mother of 3 sons and 2 daughters. Lady Anne Wake-Walker (née Spencer), 1920-2020.”
Earl Spencer wrote: “The Spencer flag at half-mast at @AlthorpHouse today, marking the death of my father’s older sister (& only sibling) Anne, aged 99 1/2. An officer in the WRENS in World War 2, she was the mother of 3 sons and 2 daughters. Lady Anne Wake-Walker (née Spencer), 1920-2020.”
He also paid tribute on Instagram by posting an old black and white photo of Lady Anne and her younger brother John – Princess Diana’s father – playing in the garden at Althorp House as children.
“Aunt Anne and my father, playing at @althorphouse in 1925,” the Earl wrote.
“A wonderful lady, she was an officer in the WRENS in the Second World War, and was a much loved mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother – as well as sister and aunt, of course. Aunt Anne died last night, aged 99 1/2. “The end of an era” is the phrase I’ve heard repeatedly today. Indeed it is.”
Lady Anne who served in the Women’s Royal Navy Service (WRENS) during the war was married to Christopher Baldwin Hughes Wake-Walker, then a lieutenant in the royal navy, in 1944.
The couple had five children together: Elizabeth Duckworth-Chad, David, Richard and Michael Spencer and Diana Macfarlane.
Lady Anne paid tribute to her Princess Diana after her death describing her as a “sweet, thoughtful and very kind girl.”
She was just six months away from reaching her 100th birthday and receiving a letter from the Queen.
Such a sad loss but what a wonderful life she lived. May she be remembered always. Rest in Peace Lady Anne.
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