3 days ago
'Very sad': Fire tears through the late Princess Diana's historic family estate in suspected arson attack
A suspected act of vandalism has left Earl Charles Spencer "stunned" after a farmhouse on the historic Althorp Estate, Princess Diana's childhood home and final resting place, was destroyed in a late-night blaze.
The 61-year-old author and younger brother of the late Princess took to social media on Wednesday to reveal the fire broke out at about 1.30am, engulfing a remote farmhouse on the Northamptonshire property.
"Stunned to learn that one of @AlthorpHouse's farmhouses- fortunately, unoccupied at the time- was apparently burnt down by vandals last night," Spencer wrote on X.
"With thanks to @northantsfire for doing their very best. So very sad that anyone would think this a fun thing to do."
Just hours earlier, Spencer had hosted a barbecue for the Northamptonshire Steelbacks cricket team on the estate, which has been in the Spencer family since 1508.
"Last night, we were delighted to host @northantsccc for a relaxed dinner with their players, coaches, girlfriends and wives," the official Althorp House Instagram account shared.
"The Spencer family has proudly supported the club for the last 120 years, with @ serving as Patron."
It is unclear when the event concluded, but firefighters were called shortly after midnight to respond to the fire, which had broken out in the two-storey farmhouse located roughly eight kilometres from the grade I-listed main house.
"At the height of the fire, four crews from across the service wearing breathing apparatus used hose-reel jets to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading further," Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue said in a statement.
"One crew remained on the scene into this afternoon with a water bowser to continue dampening down any remaining hotspots, and then returned to their station shortly before 1pm."
While police have not officially declared the fire a criminal offence, they told the BBC the incident could be upgraded if evidence supports it being deliberately lit.
But Althorp's head gamekeeper, Adey Greeno, who has worked on the estate for over three decades, was unequivocal in his belief that the fire was started intentionally.
"The farmhouse that we lost to a deliberate act of vandalism last night has now had to be razed to the ground for safety reasons," he posted on X.
"So sad. The world we live in."
The Althorp Estate is not only steeped in centuries of aristocratic history, but is also the childhood home of Princess Diana, and the place where she was laid to rest following her tragic death in 1997.
The 13,000-acre estate is open to the public during the summer months and in recent years has become a site of major archaeological interest.
In May 2023, Earl Spencer announced he had been excavating the remains of a Roman villa believed to date back to around 100 AD.
He was joined on the dig by Norwegian archaeologist Professor Cat Jarman, who would later become his girlfriend.
The following year, the father-of-seven confirmed his separation from his third wife, Countess Karen Spencer, after 13 years of marriage.
It is understood that the breakdown coincided with the writing of his memoir, A Very Private School, which explores the trauma he experienced during his boarding school years.
Countess Spencer, who has an 11-year-old daughter named Charlotte Diana with the Earl, announced her departure from Althorp House in February.
"Well…at long last, three weeks ago, we finally moved into our temporary new home," the 52-year-old Canadian entrepreneur shared on social media.
"...This new chapter is already taking shape."
