Anyone?" he asked.
"Anyone."
"All right, then—Fergie."
"Absolutely not," Diana replied, and would not be moved.
A new and unexpected ally was Raine, Diana's formidable stepmother. In 1993, Diana had finally made her peace with her. The painful years of separation from Charles made the Princess see her old adversary in a different light. Still grieving for Daddy, her greatest support, Diana was at last able to recognize that Raine had loved him, too. She invited her stepmother for a weepy reconciliation over lunch at Kensington Palace. For moral support, Raine brought along her French fiancé, Count Jean-François de Chambrun. The precaution turned out to be unnecessary. Afterward, the Princess and the countess were often sighted deep in tête-à-têtes in the grill at the Connaught hotel. According to Diana's therapist, Simone Simmons, one of Raine's cautions was to try to stay on friendly terms with Charles for the sake of the children. She told Diana that both she—Raine—and her mother, the romance novelist Barbara Cartland, had maintained warm relations with all their former husbands and lovers.