Althorp House fire: Part of Princess Diana’s childhood home ‘burnt down by vandals’, says brother Charles Spencer

Princess Diana‘s brother has claimed part of the family’s estate, Althorp House, was destroyed by vandals in an arson attack.

Earl Charles Spencer shared photos of the Wednesday morning fire and smoky aftermath in a post on social media.

“Stunned to learn that one of ⁦@AlthorpHouse⁩’s farmhouses – fortunately, unoccupied at the time – was apparently burnt down by vandals last night,” Earl Spencer captioned the post.

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After thanking the local fire authorities for “doing their very best” to save the structure, he turned his attention to those behind the incident.

“So very sad that anyone would think this a fun thing to do,” he said on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

In his Instagram Story post, Earl Spencer it was “deeply disturbing” the farmhouse had been “torched by vandals”.

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Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service confirmed firefighters been called to the 13,000-acre (5300-acre) property about 1.30am (10.30am AEST) and found a “derelict two-storey property fully on fire”.

“At the height of the fire, four crews from across the Service wearing breathing apparatus used hose-reel jets to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading further,” the service said in a statement.

“One crew remained on the scene into this afternoon with a water bowser to continue dampening down any remaining hotspots, and then returned to their station shortly before 1pm.”

It’s not the first time there’s been a fire at Princess Diana’s childhood home, which is also her resting place.

In September last year, Earl Spencer took to social media reporting a fire was “started by youths in balaclavas” on the estate.

Hot weather sparked a fire in one of the fields on the estate in July 2022.

Earl Spencer regularly shares updates on the family home with his followers on social media, along with cherished memories with his beloved sister, Diana.

Lady Diana Spencer lived at Althorp House, in West Northamptonshire – about a two-hour drive north-west of London – from the time her parents split in 1967 until she moved to West London in 1979, where she lived before her marriage to Prince Charles.

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Princess Diana’s life in pictures

After saying “I Do” in 1981 to the then-Prince of Wales, Princess Diana moved into Kensington Palace, where she lived until her death in 1997.

Her remains were returned to her childhood home following the Paris crash and the “people’s princess” was buried on a tree-covered island amid Oval Lake on the property.

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