Charles Spencer has revealed the real story behind a rare photo showing him with his late sister, Princess Diana.
Charles – the youngest of the four Spencer siblings – was forwarded the black and white snapshot by one of his Twitter fans. It shows brother and sister looking tense and a little annoyed as they walk side-by-side down the street.
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"That time Diana and her brother looked like they were on the cover of a Smiths album. So cool," Charles's follower had originally captioned the image.
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In response, Charles, 56, wrote: "Thanks for forwarding this: it was late 1980, I was 16 and my sister was taking me out from @Eton_College for lunch in @HindsHeadBray.
Charles Spencer has revealed the story behind this photo taken with his late sister, Diana
"Her Mini Metro was followed by 12 cars & 1 motorbike of tabloid journalists. Enough to make any teenager look as disdainful as Morrissey, frankly."
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His fans were quick to react to the photo and the story behind it. "A little emotional looking at it, one confessed, while a second wrote: "That must have been unsettling, enough to make you both look as cool as cucumbers, somehow. We love the photo. Thanks for giving some context."
Prince Charles and Diana pictured with their two boys
At the time the picture was taken, Diana was married to Prince Charles. The couple tied the knot in July 1981 at St Paul's Cathedral and welcomed their first son, Prince William, in June the following year. Prince Harry was born in September 1984.
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Charles and Diana had a close sibling bond, and he has spoken about their shared upbringing at Althorp House – the family's ancestral home – and the pain they went through when their father separated from their mother Frances Shand Kydd in 1969.
Charles and Diana's parents separated in 1969
"Diana and I had two older sisters who were away at school, so she and I were very much in it together and I did talk to her about it," the father-of-seven told The Sunday Times.
"Our father was a quiet and constant source of love, but our mother wasn't cut out for maternity. Not her fault, she couldn't do it.
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"While she was packing her stuff to leave, she promised Diana [then aged five] she'd come back to see her. Diana used to wait on the doorstep for her, but she never came," he recalled.
Princess Diana has been laid to rest in the grounds of Althorp House
Following her untimely death in 1997, Princess Diana was laid to rest on a small island in the grounds of Althorp, located in the middle of the ornamental Round Oval Lake.
Furthermore, a temple with Diana's name inscribed on the top is situated across from the lake as a place where visitors can lay down their floral tributes to the late princess.
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