Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 30, 1992 TAG: 9203300009
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LONDON LENGTH: Short
Diana and her husband, Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, were in Austria with their two sons on a skiing vacation when the death was announced.
The couple were returning to London today, and the children were to remain in Austria until later in the week, Buckingham Palace said.
The earl, who had been suffering from pneumonia, died of a heart attack, said the spokesman for Humana Wellington Hospital in London, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The day before she left for Austria, the princess and her older son, 9-year-old Prince William, had visited the earl at the hospital. He was hospitalized March 21, but was reported to have been recovering.
The earl, born Edward John Spencer on Jan. 24, 1924, suffered a stroke in 1978, which had left him somewhat unsteady on his feet when he walked Diana down the aisle at St. Paul's Cathedral in 1981 for her marriage to Prince Charles.
In addition to 30-year-old Diana, the earl had a son Charles, Viscount Althorp, 27; and daughters Lady Sarah McCorquodale, 36, and Lady Jane Fellowes, 34.
Memo: shorter version ran in the Metro edition.