Princess Diana’s younger brother Earl Spencer revealed on social media that a farmhouse at Althorp House in Northamptonshire, the family’s ancestral home, had been burned down by vandals

The brother of Princess Diana says he’s been left ‘stunned’ after a fire destroyed a building at the estate when she is buried. Diana’s younger brother Earl Spencer took to social media today to reveal that a farmhouse at Althorp House had been targeted by vandals and had burned down.

He shared pictures of the blaze as well as the aftermath showing the destroyed building. In a post on X, he thanked Northamptonshire Fire Service for dealing with the fire, adding that nobody had been in the building at the time. He wrote: “Stunned to learn that one of @AlthorpHouse⁩’s farmhouses – fortunately, unoccupied at the time – was apparently burnt down by vandals last night. With thanks to @northantsfire ⁩for doing their very best. So very sad that anyone would think this a fun thing to do.”

The burned out farmhouse, which has now been razed to the ground (
Image:
@cspencer1508/X)

Meanwhile, Adey Greeno, Althorp’s conservation manager later shared on X that the farmhouse had to be “razed to the ground” for safety reasons”.

Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue service said: “The service remains on scene after a fire on Mill Lane in Kingsthorpe, Northampton. We were called at around 1.30am this morning (May 28) and crews arrived to find an unoccupied two-story property fully on fire.

“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. This morning, one crew remains on the scene with a water bowser to continue dampening down any remaining hotspots.” It added that it does not yet know the cause.

Princess Diana’s younger brother Charles Spencer (
Image:
Getty Images for Invictus Games)
Althorp has been the ancestral home of the Spencer family for 500 years. It was where Diana grew up after her parents divorced before she married the now-King Charles. The 13,500-acre estate was where she was laid to rest after her untimely death in 1997. It opens to visitors each summer.

Her grave is in the middle of a Round Oval Lake on the estate, which is inaccessible to the public. After her death in 1997, her brother Charles said her family agreed it would be a fitting final resting place for the princess due to its “beauty and tranquillity”.

Despite the island being inaccessible to the public, her family can visit it, and it is said that both Prince William and Prince Harry have visited their mother’s grave in the past. In fact, in his memoir Spare, Harry revealed that he took his now-wife, Meghan Markle, to the island.

An aerial view of Althorp House in Northamptonshire (
Image:
Getty Images)

The pair visited the grounds in August 2017 after being together for roughly a year. In his book, Harry describes how they rowed out to the island on the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death, where he recalled seeing Meghan with her “palms flat against the stone.”

After taking time alone to reflect and pay tribute to his mother, he recalled sensing that his girlfriend at the time also wanted a private moment. He said, “When I returned, she was on her knees with her eyes closed and her palms flat against the stone.” The duke added that Meghan had told him that she had asked Diana for “clarity and guidance” during her moment alone.

Diana’s brother Charles is the current custodian of the estate, and his oldest son, Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, will inherit it over William and Harry.

Even though Louis has three older sisters—Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Amelia Spencer, and Lady Eliza Spencer—the aristocracy’s system of primogeniture means that titles are passed down to the oldest boy, not the firstborn child.

Diana’s final resting place is at Althorp (
Image:
Getty Images)

His oldest sister, Kitty, a model and socialite, has previously said about her little brother inheriting the estate over her: “Primogeniture can be a tricky topic, because as times are changing, attitudes are as well. We’ve grown up understanding that it’s Louis to inherit, and Louis will do an incredible job.”

Their father Charles noted in 2015, “I would be totally relaxed about Kitty inheriting it, but… if I chose Kitty, it would be against all the tradition that goes with Althorp.”