More information on Adam Shand Kydd.
Beryl
28th April 2004
Princess Diana's stepbrother has died from a suspected drugs overdose in a
run-down travellers' hostel in Cambodia.
Adam Shand Kydd, 49, was staying in the red-light district of Phnom Penh
when he was found dead yesterday, according to police sources.
The death of Mr Shand Kydd, who has a history of drug addiction and has been
treated in clinics in Britain, will come as a further devastating blow to
his stepmother, Frances Shand Kydd, 67.
She has recently been hospitalised with a debilitating brain disease and had
to cope with the news last week that an American TV channel had broadcast
pictures of her daughter Diana dying in the wake of her car crash in Paris.
Adam was the son of Peter Shand Kydd from his marriage to his first wife,
Janet.
Peter left his wife and three children to marry Diana's mother after an
affair which saw her leave her family, when Diana was only seven, for the
millionaire.
Diana never became close to her stepfather and remained with her father,
Earl Spencer, at their Althorp home.
Her mother divorced Mr Shand Kydd, who made his money from wallpaper
manufacturing, in 1988.
However the couple remained close and she will be devastated at the death of
her former husband's son.
Ambulance driver Yim Mongul said: 'When I picked up the body I saw blue
bruises on his arms and on his whole body. I assumed he overdosed on drugs.'
Eyewitnesses said a representative from the British Embassy went to the
scene as well as local forensic police.
It is thought that Mr Shand Kydd's passport was found in the room.
No statement has been issued by the British Embassy.
A police chief at Psar Thmei police post confirmed the incident and said the
man was a tourist.
In the 1980s Adam Shand Kydd was a regular on the London social scene and he
became a writer. His first novel, Happy Trials, came out in August 1984.
The comedy is about two gay men who live peacefully in East Anglia until
they are drawn into plots of religious fanaticism. It received mixed
reviews.
Mr Shand Kydd is said to have begun drinking when he failed to get his
second novel, State of Siege, a comedy about fringe theatre, published.
In 1988 he was admitted to a specialist dependency unit, Broadreach House in
Plymouth, where he was believed to be battling a long-term drink problem.
During the course of treatment which cost £5,000, he helped with household
duties, including cleaning toilets, washing dishes and vacuuming.
Michael Rhodes
> Diana's stepbrother found dead
> 28th April 2004
>
> Princess Diana's stepbrother has died from a suspected drugs overdose in a
> run-down travellers' hostel in Cambodia.
> Janet.
Adam's mother is Janet Munro Kerr, scion of a Glasgow shipping family.
Her grandfather John Martin Munro Kerr (1868-1960) was a leading
gynaecologist.
>
> Peter left his wife and three children to marry Diana's mother after an
> affair which saw her leave her family, when Diana was only seven, for the
> millionaire.
>
Peter & Janet's other children are Angela (who married in 1982, David
V.G. de Pass), and the photographer, Johnnie Shand Kydd.
Peter's half-brother, William (Bill) Shand Kydd, is the gambler,
horseman and playboy, chum of Lord Lucan, who married Christina Duncan
(whose sister Veronica married the elusive Earl of Lucan). Bill &
Christina have a daughter, Lucinda (Lady Kleinwort, wife of the banker
baronet Sir Richard Kleinwort), and a son, Caspar.
Peter & Bill are sons of Norman Shand Kydd, of Horton Hall,
Buckinghamshire.
-- Michael (please delete the x to e-mail me)
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