Princess Diana was famous for her shy smile
(Picture: Getty)Althorp House, Princess Diana’s childhood home and her final resting place, is currently closed to the public, reopening in 2023.
Diana, who tragically died on August 31, 1997, was divorced from Prince Charles, who was then the Prince of Wales.
Charles became King Charles III the moment Queen Elizabeth II died on September 8, under the old common law rule Rex nunquam moritur, which means “The king never dies”.
The former Prince of Wales became king at the age of 73, following the death of his mother, the Queen, at 96 years old.
On Wednesday, the Queen’s coffin arrived at the Palace of Westminster after a sombre procession from Buckingham Palace.
The procession saw the late monarch leave the palace at 2.22 pm, with crowds lining the streets occasionally bursting into spontaneous applause or cheers.
The coffin, which had been followed by the King with his three siblings - Princess Anne, Prince Andrew, and Prince Edward - arrived at Westminster Hall shortly after 3pm.
Princes William and Harry were also in attendance.
Here’s everything you need to know about Althrop House.
What is Althrop House and where is it located?
The palatial estate dates back to 1508 and Princess Diana grew up there, along with her siblings, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, Lady Jane Fellowes, and her brother Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer and current master of the house.
In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph, Earl Spencer confirmed his plans to follow traditional rules of primogeniture and leave the estate to his 25-year-old son, Viscount Louis Spencer, rather than his older daughter, Lady Kitty Spencer, 28.
“Is it any fairer that the eldest child gets it instead of the eldest male?” he said. “Whatever you say is a selection.”
Spanning 500 acres and 90 rooms, parts of the home will be put on display for historical buffs, fine-furniture enthusiasts, and fans of Earl Spencer's late sister.
While the award-winning Diana: Princess of Wales exhibition finished in 2017, another called The Spencers: The History of an English Family details centuries of the family’s history at the estate.
Guests can also view the estate’s collection of fine European furniture, art, and ceramics, as well as their new Animals of Althorp exhibit (where you can view a painting of Diana’s beloved cat, Marmalade).
The house’s striking chequered entrance, Wootton Hall, is one of the highlights of the estate, covered in pastoral scenes by artist John Wootton, and a ceiling covered in 200 different plaster flowers.
In her youth, Diana would reportedly practise her tap dancing on the hall’s black and white marble floor.
Other highlights include the King William bedroom, which was where King William III slept in 1695 underneath a canopy covered in ostrich feathers, according to the house's official Instagram.
One area which will reportedly not be open to the public is Princess Diana’s burial site, which is located on a small island nicknamed the Oval, in the centre of a lake within the property. It was not originally intended to be her burial site, but Earl Spencer revealed in 2017 that it was the “safest place” for her to be buried.
He also said in 1998 that the watery perimeter would “act as a buffer against the interventions of the insane and ghoulish... presenting a further line of defence,” and that it was intended to be a place where her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, could visit in privacy.
Despite this, he told BBC Radio 4 that there had been “four attempted break-ins towards her body in the past 20 years” since she had passed away.
Although visitors won’t be able to visit Princess Diana’s grave, there is a small memorial where people can pay respect to the ‘People’s Princess’. It features her likeness as well as two inscribed slabs: one which has a quote from Princess Diana and the other which features a line from her brother's eulogy at her funeral. There is also an arboretum nearby, where Princess Diana and her sons planted trees together.
A former Althorp cook told the BBC after Diana’s burial site had been announced, “Looking back, it was probably the happiest time of her life. You get the sense that she is coming home. Her father is buried here. I’m sure it is what she would have wanted.”
Althrop House is currently closed to the public, and will reopen in 2023.
