The people’s princess,Princess Diana, has remained a treasured figure of the royal family.
By 1969, Diana’s parents had divorced, and her mother lost custody.
Although Althorp House wasn’t Princess Diana’s first childhood home, it was the most impactful.
The house has accumulated a rich history over the past five centuries and counting.
Althorp House has been home to everyone from philanthropists to politicians and gamblers to preachers, according toHistoric Houses.
However, it is best known as the childhood home of Princess Diana.
Althorp encompasses14,000 acresof grassy plains, fields of various crops, and pastures for farm animals.
The house itself is100,000 square feet, a little shy of the size oftwo football fields.
However, approximately 450 acres are designated as parkland.
This land includes gardens designed by famed architect W.N.
Teulon back in 1860.
The property also boasts a lake, which is called the Round Oval.
It’s not difficult to see why Diana became so fond of this massive and beautiful estate.
The mansion boasts 90 rooms
The first floorof Althorp House greets visitors with a grand entrance hall.
Tucked away off that staircase is a butler’s apartment.
The picture gallery and saloon within Althorp House showcase art ranging from 16th-century paintings to modern-day portraits.
In total, there are around 650 paintings throughout the house.
No one was any the wiser when the couple returned the ball.
Another bedroom in Althorp House hosted Winston Churchill, where he began penning some of his memoirs.
The Prince of Wales Bedroom was visited by the man who held the title in the mid-1800s.
Changing them out would require altering the masonry of the room, Spencer explained to Cabana.
On the ceiling of Wootton Hall hangs a Roman lantern, an 18th-century piece originally designed for candles.
While caring for the grounds, he often shares picturesque views of the property.
Some700-year-old oak treesadorn the land of Althorp House, andsheephave grazed the land for half a millennia.
Wildlife is also abundant here, includingblack fallow deer.
Interestingly, what lies beneath Althorp House provides an even more astonishing account.
At first, it was believed that decorated shells discovered in the excavation were 40,000-year-old artifacts.
The series gives fans a glimpse at what life is like in a 90-room house on a 14,000-acre estate.
One episode, in particular, shares a glimpse into theSpencer tombs.
A tree-lined and grassy path leads from the house to a small village outside Althorp House.
Atop some of the tombs are carvings of the family members eternally resting beneath.
Items memorializing the Spencers can also be found in the tombs, including sword and coronet carvings.
Eventually, Diana’s wish to return to Althorp was granted, but not untilher tragic deathin 1997.
Her brother wanted her to remain in a tranquil area, undisturbed from the outside world.
The pond is lined with oak trees to represent each year of her life, 36 in total.
It was closed in 2014, whenPrince WilliamandPrince Harryinherited her belongings and brought them to Kensington Palace.
It is a goal and an essential part of my life.
A kind of destiny.
Whoever is in distress can call on me.
I will come running wherever they are."
