When Princess Diana died suddenly in 1997, her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, received many of her valuables, jewels, and money. However, Diana’s childhood house, which is now her final resting place, will not be passed down to her two brothers.
Diana’s father received the title of Earl Spencer in 1975, and the family relocated to the Althorp estate in Northamptonshire, the Spencer family’s historic home since 1508. The property, which spans 13,000 acres, is currently in the hands of the present Earl Spencer—Princess Diana’s brother, Charles—and will pass to his son, Louis, Viscount Althorp, following his death.
Although Louis has three elder sisters, Lady Kitty, Lady Eliza, and Lady Amelia, they follow primogeniture, which states that the eldest man in a family gets titles and property.
Charles told The Mail on Sunday in 2015 that he would be “totally relaxed” if his eldest child, Kitty, inherited Althorp. However, “Choosing Kitty would go against all of Althorp’s traditions. It’s just the way things are. I recognize the flaws in that notion. I also understand its benefits based on my previous experience.”
In the December 2015 edition of Tatler, Kitty stated, “I am completely pro-gender equality. But I’m pleased that it will be my brother’s burden.” I just think it’s the right way.”
“I like that the house stays within the same family, with the same surname,” she told me. “I wouldn’t want it any other way for the Spencer family. And I know my brother will do an excellent job.”
Princess Diana, who died in a car collision in Paris in 1997 at the age of 36, is buried on the Althorp estate. Her burial is located on a tiny island in the center of the property’s Oval Lake and is inaccessible to the public. Charles claimed in his book that its isolation was intended, with the lake “[acting] as a buffer against the interventions of the insane and ghoulish, the thick mud presenting a further line of defense.”
Charles has stated that knowing that Prince William and Prince Harry may discreetly visit their mother’s grave gives him peace.
“I think it’s very important for them to be there with her,” he previously told People. “Fortunately, it is relatively peaceful here, and they are free to come and go anytime they choose. And it is wonderful to know.”
Visitors to Althorp cannot visit Diana’s burial location, but they can pay their respects at a memorial dedicated to her.
In his 2023 memoir, Spare, Prince Harry describes visiting the place on the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2022, accompanied by his wife, Meghan Markle, for the first time.
As they sailed across the lake, Prince Harry stated that he “gazed around at Althorp’s rolling fields and ancient trees, the thousands of green acres where my mother grew up, and where, though things weren’t perfect, she’d known some peace.”
Despite admitting that the visit was not “easy,” Harry underlined his wish to share his mother’s last resting place with Meghan, saying, “At long last, I was bringing the girl of my dreams home to meet Mum.”
Prince Harry also stated that the money given to him by Princess Diana allowed him and Meghan to go to California once they stepped down from their royal duties in 2020.
“I brought what my mom left me,” he remarked during the couple’s 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey. “And without it, we would not have been able to achieve this, so I believe my mother saw it coming. “I felt her presence throughout the entire process.”