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Charles Spencer and Diana, Princess of Wales © Getty

Earl Charles Spencer pays tribute to late sister Princess Diana with rare photos

Prince William and Prince Harry’s beloved mother died on August 31, 1997

Katie Daly
Lifestyle Writer
August 31, 2024
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Ever the doting brother, Earl Charles Spencer paid tribute to his late sister Princess Diana on Saturday as he shared a rare photo featuring newspaper clippings from her early life.

One of the articles reported on the late Princess of Wales' christening in 1961. The Earl's mother Frances held an eight-week-old Diana beside the baby's father. 

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"On a bright sunlit afternoon on Wednesday the Hon. Diana Frances, eight-week-old third daughter of Viscount and Viscountess Althrop, of Park House, Sandringham was christened at Sandringham," the piece read.

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Also in the photo was another snap of Prince Harry's grandmother holding her baby daughter and a third with Diana as a toddler pushing a toy pram in a patterned cardigan.

Princess Diana's christening 

The late royal was christened at St. Mary Magdalene Church in Sandringham. Also present were the tot's godparents who were listed in the newspaper clipping as Mrs William Fox of Anmer, Mrs. Timothy Colman of Norwich, Mrs. Michael Pratt of Downham, and Mr. Alexander Gilmour of London.

Middletons at Princess Charlotte's christening© Getty
Princess Charlotte was christened at the same church as her late grandmother

Both sets of grandparents also bore witness. The St. Mary Magdalene Church holds special value for the Spencer family to this day as the Prince and Princess of Wales' daughter Princess Charlotte, now nine, was christened there in July 2015 in the presence of the royal family and her godparents - Tom van Straubenzee, James Meade, Sophie Carter, and Adam Middleton, and Laura Fellowes who is Princess Diana's sister's daughter.

Maria often wears her Norland uniform, see here at Princess Charlotte's christening back in 2015© Getty
Princess Charlotte's christening reflects memories of Princess Diana's
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Princess Diana's upbringing at Althorp

The four Spencer children grew up at Althorp - Diana and Charles alongside their sisters Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes.

Earl Spencer with Sir William Fellowes, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Spencer and Lady Sarah Macorquadale after the unveiling ceremony for the Princess Diana memorial fountain in London's Hyde Park © ARTHUR EDWARDS
Earl Spencer with Sir William Fellowes, Lady Jane Fellowes, Lady Spencer and Lady Sarah Macorquadale

However, as Charles' newspaper snippet suggests, the Princess lived in Park House on the Sandringham estate.

 Park House, Sandringham exterior© Getty
Park House, Sandringham is the birthplace of Princess Diana

They resided in Norfolk until their father inherited the title of Earl in 1975 and relocated the family to Althorp House.

princess diana and charles spencer as children at althrop house© PA Images
Diana and Charles spent their childhood on the Althorp estate

 Althorp, in Northamptonshire, is a true spectacle. The ancestral home, which opens to the public every summer, covers 100,000 square-foot and features 31 bedrooms.

Earl Spencer with his second wife Raine at Althorp House© Getty
Earl Spencer with his second wife Raine at Althorp House

The seismic residence also offers a ballroom and a picture gallery including notable artworks such as Anthony van Dyck's 1637 portrait 'War and Peace'.

The burial site of the late Princess Diana © Getty
The burial site of the late Princess Diana

The estate is also the resting place of the late royal. Near the lake is a memorial featuring a silhouette of Diana and the words that featured in Charles Spencer's funeral speech.

Princess diana stone memorial © Getty
The memorial on the island in a lake on the Althorp estate, where Diana, Princess of Wales was laid to rest

DISCOVER: Charles Spencer shares exciting update on Princess Diana's childhood home

"We give thanks for the life of a woman I'm so proud to be able to call my sister," the memorial reads. "The unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana, whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds."

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