Charles Spencer Shares Remarkable 150-Year-Old Image of Princess Diana’s Resting Place as Althorp Prepares to Mark Another Emotional Anniversary

A photograph taken roughly 150 years ago has offered a striking glimpse of one of the most deeply personal places in the Spencer family story: the lake at Althorp where Princess Diana would eventually be laid to rest.

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and Diana’s younger brother, recently shared the historic black-and-white image of the Oval Lake at the family’s ancestral estate in Northamptonshire. The photograph predates Diana’s death by well over a century, capturing the landscape long before it became permanently associated with her memory.

Today, the island at the center of the lake is Diana’s private burial place, while visitors to Althorp can pay tribute from a memorial on the lakeside. The image has emerged at a particularly poignant time, with the estate approaching its annual August 31 closure — the anniversary of Diana’s death in 1997.

A view of Althorp from another century

According to Charles, the photograph was taken approximately 150 years ago. It shows mature trees surrounding the peaceful water and what was then known as the Admiralty Summer House on the opposite bank.

The scene is recognizable, but its meaning has changed dramatically over the generations.

The former summer house has since become part of the memorial dedicated to Diana, giving visitors a place to leave flowers and reflect on her life. The island itself remains private and inaccessible to members of the public.

Althorp, the Spencer family seat for more than five centuries, covers approximately 13,000 acres. Diana spent part of her childhood there, and the estate remains closely connected to both her early life and her legacy.

This summer, Althorp opened to visitors on July 1, Diana’s birthday, and is scheduled to close again on August 31.

The timing carries added significance in 2026 as the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death approaches next year.

Why Diana was buried on the island

The island was not originally intended to become Diana’s final resting place.

Following her death in Paris on August 31, 1997, plans initially called for her to be buried in the Spencer family vault at St Mary the Virgin church in Great Brington, close to Althorp. Generations of the Spencer family had been laid to rest there.

Charles ultimately decided on a more secluded location because of concerns about privacy and security.

Diana was instead buried on an island in the Oval Lake, surrounded by water and shielded by the estate’s landscape. Nearby is an arboretum containing trees planted by her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

The decision also brought Diana back permanently to the place that had shaped part of her childhood.

It was at Althorp that Diana lived with her siblings, and it was there that the then-Prince Charles first encountered the Spencer family while he was involved with Diana’s older sister, Lady Sarah Spencer, in the late 1970s.

Charles later explained that the beauty and isolation of the island made it an appropriate place for his sister to rest, while the lake and surrounding terrain offered a natural barrier against unwanted intrusion.

Nearly three decades later, that privacy remains intact. Visitors can see the island from across the lake and visit Diana’s memorial, but access to her grave is reserved for the family.

Prince Harry has described deeply personal visits to the grave

The secluded burial site has remained particularly meaningful to Diana’s sons.

In his 2023 memoir Spare, Prince Harry described bringing Meghan Markle to his mother’s grave at Althorp on the 25th anniversary of Diana’s death.

Harry recalled placing flowers at the grave and privately speaking to his mother before stepping away to give Meghan time alone.

When he returned, he said he found Meghan kneeling beside the grave. Harry later wrote that she had sought “clarity” and “guidance” during the intensely personal visit.

More recently, Harry and Meghan returned to Althorp with Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet during the summer of 2026, according to the original report, with the family pictured carrying floral tributes.

For Harry, Althorp therefore represents more than his mother’s burial place. It connects his children to the Spencer side of their family and to the childhood landscape that Diana once knew herself.

Charles Spencer prepares to tell Diana’s story

The historic photograph also comes shortly before Charles publishes his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.

The book is scheduled for worldwide publication on September 22, 2026, and will provide Charles’s personal account of growing up alongside Diana, her transformation into one of the world’s most recognizable women, and the devastating period surrounding her death.

Charles and Diana, the two youngest Spencer siblings, were exceptionally close during childhood. The forthcoming 384-page memoir recalls how they explored the family estate together and supported one another through difficult periods in their upbringing, including their parents’ divorce.

Charles has said the approaching 30th anniversary of Diana’s death, combined with repeated requests for him to discuss his sister publicly, convinced him that the time had come to give his own detailed account. He has described the project as an effort to preserve a truthful and deeply personal portrait of Diana for those who remember her as well as generations who never knew her.

That makes the century-old photograph especially resonant.

When the camera captured the quiet lake roughly 150 years ago, there was no way of knowing that the landscape would one day become inseparable from the story of one of the most famous women of the modern era.

Today, the water, trees and secluded island remain largely removed from public view — preserving a private corner of Althorp where Diana’s family can remember her away from the extraordinary attention that followed her throughout her life.