Charles, the Earl Spencer, still owns Althorp and he’s still a member of the aristocracy. Althorp was Princess Diana’s childhood home, and it’s where Diana is buried. People can take tours of Althorp and the Earl Spencer rents it out for tourists, business conventions, etc. I believe Charles still lives in South Africa, right? But he’s still connected to the UK and he still uses his title and he’s still trying to find ways to make Althorp profitable and earn money for himself. He’s currently promoting his latest book, which is why he appeared on the Times Radio show. He was asked about the coronation and whether he’ll go. The hostess said that she’ll inevitably be thinking about Diana as King Charles is “crowned.”
"I think of Diana every day, but in different contexts and the whole royal thing, I don't find it as interesting … I just get on with my life."
Earl Spencer says he won't be attending the Coronation on #TimesRadio. pic.twitter.com/IhEqwB5NvT
— Times Radio (@TimesRadio) February 20, 2023
First of all, it sounds like the Earl Spencer will not have any kind of role in the Chubbly, nor will he seek out an invitation. While the Spencers have had close ties to the monarchy for centuries, it’s true that they’ve never had a formal role in a coronation. When asked if he’ll go to the Chubbly, Charles says: “There is some old coronet knocking around but I won’t be wearing it anytime soon, I don’t think… I wouldn’t have thought so…” When told that Diana will be in many people’s thoughts on the day of the coronation, Charles said:
“I think that’s very complimentary… I mean, obviously I think of Diana everyday in different contexts… actually, the whole royal thing, I don’t find it as interesting as a lot of people. Do you know what I mean? I just get on with my life. And I look after what I have to look after at this stage…. People obviously assume I care a lot about that side of things…”
I always thought that after Charles’s barnburner eulogy for his sister in 1997, the Windsors actually took pains to try to bring the Earl over to their side, or co-opt him in some way. The Earl Spencer definitely never followed through on his burn-it-all-down energy, although by most accounts, he has tried to remain on good terms with William and Harry. But yeah… I’m glad the Earl is just opting out of all of the Clowning bullsh-t.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- Earl Spencer leaves after speaking at the Isle of Wight literary festival,Image: 208423546, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no
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- WINDSOR, ENGLAND – MAY 19: Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer and Karen Spencer arrive at the wedding of Prince Harry to Ms Meghan Markle at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle on May 19, 2018 in Windsor, England.,Image: 515240626, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR SEVEN DAYS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Avalon
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- Earl Spencer at the unveiling of a statue of his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024591, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- Earl Spencer is greeted by his nephews the Duke of Cambridge (right) and Duke of Sussex (left) as he arrives for unveiling of a statue they commissioned of their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday. Picture date: Thursday July 1, 2021. .,Image: 619024740, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Avalon.red / Avalon
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- The Duke of Sussex with his uncle Earl Spencer, at the unveiling of a statue of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday.,Image: 619146847, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: NO UK USE FOR 48 HOURS- Fee Payable Upon reproduction – For queries contact Avalon sales@Avalon.red London +44 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles +1 310 822 0419 Berlin +49 30 76 212 251 Madrid +34 91 533 42 89, Model Release: no, Credit line: Dominic Lipinski / Avalon
I had no idea he lived in South Africa!
Good for him! I think it’s wise of him
to stay clear from the royal mess.
I don’t know that he and his wife live in South Africa. They seem to live full-time at Althorp now that his older children are grown. They have a web-series about the house called 1503 detailing all the renovations/restorations they are doing.
I believe he lives full-time in the UK and is running Althorp.
His ex Victoria still stays in SA. Not him.
Okay! Thanks for sorting that for me!
☺️
Yes, they live at Althorp full time.
I hope all the spectators are thinking of Diana on that day and deriding the wicked backstabbing witch who will be standing up there in her place. And deriding the spineless toadstool they’re letting crown himself king, who fanned the flames and destroyed a young girl-come-young woman because his ego was too fragile. #OnlySparesShouldBecomeHeirs
Here, here! I approve this message 100%👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 my impression of the Spencer’s went up when I learned they offered Meghan the Spencer tiara. I wish she had worn it! I would’ve enjoyed the royal family reactions !
Does this mean the Spencer tiara would be available if Meghan and Harry come to the Clowning at the Chubbly?
Seeing Meghan wear that tiara would be the only reason I’d watch.
+1
@Quitecontrary: It hasn’t been confirmed that the women will be required to wear tiaras. I suspect given the cost of living crisis the palace won’t want people turning up in tiaras and coronets. If Meghan goes, my bet is she won’t be wearing one even if other women might be wearing tiaras. Charles will try to humiliate her by not lending her a tiara and will leak that information to the press.
@AmyBee, thanks for that info. If tiaras are going to be worn, though, Meghan may not have to borrow one from the RF if the Spencer one is available, right?
Wouldn’t it be delicious to see Meghan wearing it? Or is that just me, still wanting to see Diana avenged?
Cannot and Willnot’s bowels would spontaneously empty if Meghan showed up in the Spencer tiara. I would never stop laughing, which makes me think they have probably already demanded the Spencer tiara for Kitty.
@Quite Contrary, delicious.
@ QuiteContrary, oh. I never thought of that but wouldn’t that be an excellent opportunity for the Spencer’s to be included in the Con-a-nation!!!! (with a dash of deviousness added in in respect to Diana.)
@ Christine, I imagine that Cannot and WillNot would certainly implode with the sight of seeing Meghan in the Spencer tiara!!! I would love, love, love to see it!!! Though I am a petty b*tch. 😈
I was thinking the exact same thing, does this mean the Spencer tiara would be available? If they offered it to Meghan once, I’d imagine they’d offer it again. Especially knowing that her chances of borrowing one from the royal vault are slim to none.
We’ll see how strong those Windsor/Middleton genes end up being, but I stand by my assertion that George is a lot of Spencer. He’ll look more like great uncle Charles than the king one some day.
But good for all the Spencers that don’t try to beg invites to royal events to stay in the spotlight. I think once you’ve seen the seedy under belly, and they pretty much killed your sister, you’re not nearly as enamored with all the pomp and circumstance.
I see this, as well. He’s nearly a carbon copy of his uncle.
Came here to say this: I literally gasped when I saw that header pic with his eyes squinted? He looks exactly like an older version of George!!!! I always wondered who he looked like, as all those Middleton kids looks so different from each other!
I also see a strong resemblance to Michael middleton. Combination Spencer and middleton
Hopefully he won’t lose his looks like bill did.
@Amanda- It really jumped out in the 2020 picture of the queen + three heirs standing and George in the plaid pants. (And stupid Peter Pan collared shirt, but that’s beside the point.)
George was pretty Middleton until Louis came along. That kid is ALL Michael Middleton.
Am I the only one who thinks that Wills will look like his uncle when in his 60s? I feel they look so much alike just Spencer has more hair, hehe
I do not think that Bulliam will look like his uncle. Bulliam certainly lost his looks at least a decade or more. Though when I look at Bulliam, all I can see is a vile man-child that refuses to grow up and act with any form of decency. I believe that the ugliness that Bulliam holds inside is coming out into his face, that’s IMO though.
Nah, William is looking too much like Andrew & Edward already–wide hips, bit of a paunch, no hair, lower lip jutting out.
Will has the Spencer shaped head. Other than that he is a Windsor and i notice he has some hanoverian features.
I scrolled down to see who mentioned it first. It’s like Little George all grown up! Agree, he’s a whole lot of Spencer.
Charles looks so like George doesn’t he
I will never forget that eulogy and how Charles seemed to be in utter agony. I love that he pretty much pays all the rota and royal business for dust. Harry gets that from him and his mum.
That eulogy was fire. It needed to be said and I’m glad he said it.
I saw a comment on the board yesterday that he had not offered Diana a home. In fact he did but it didn’t fit the media narrative. They wanted revenge.
@girl_ninja: I’m not sure where you got the impression that he pays the royal rota for dust. He and the royal rota were partner when they went after Bashir and that was at the same time that Harry was battling the press.
I’m talking about the nonsense. And let’s face it, the reasons that they went after Bashir was for different reasons. And I believe that Bashir didn’t act alone. He was given permission to do whatever to get what he could out of Lady Diana.
Also I believe it was reported that it was Charles Spencer whom Bashir was communicating with, and who swallowed the bull and then conveyed to Diana that she might have to play along. So he might have been driven to go after Bashir because of being directly hoodwinked by him.
I’m not surprised that he’s not interested in attending. The Spencers have nothing to prove. They are an “older” family than the Windsors, they already have titles and land, and their blood is running through the veins of all of Charles’ heirs. They have no reason to kiss up to Chuck. (Also, why would they want to celebrate him and Camilla?)
The Spencers, unlike the Windsors, are actually English. Harry is more English than Charles. Diana did that.
@Brassy Rebel, yes, yes, YES! Diana and her family were a six hundred-odd year old English family, unlike the current German lot.
Came here to say this. The Spencers are descended from Stuart and Tudor lines. Not only are they more royal than the present BRF, they’re more English than the mostly German BRF.
Has anyone here read any of his books? Are they good?
I ordered an autographed copy of one of his books during the earliest days of Covid. I’m interested in British History and couldn’t pass up the chance to have Diana’s brother’s autograph. You were allowed to request a message in addition to the autograph, and I requested that he write “To *Sue Barbri*, please enjoy this book!” But instead it says “Happy Birthday.” I haven’t read the book yet, but I laugh every time I see it on my shelf.
He wrote a book: “Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I”
He writes books about history:
https://charles-spencer.com/
Thought he did just early modern, but also wrote a book about medieval history apparently.
Earl Spencer is descended from Charles I. And Charles II, too, , who had no legitimate children and made all of his bastards dukes.
William will be the first monarch since Anne descended from a Stuart later than James VI/I thanks to the Spencer genes. The Spencers are descended from the Duke of Richmond and Lennox and the Duke of Grafton.
Charles Spencer is still a royalist and had admiration for the Queen. If I’m not mistaken he went to the Queen’s funeral but I don’t think he has a warm relationship Charles. Him going to the coronation of the persons who made Diana’s life hell and inadvertedly caused her death wouldn’t seem right so I understand his decision not to go. Charles saying he won’t be there kind of makes believe that Harry won’t go either,
I don’t think it was inadvertant at all. they very much wanted her out of the picture.
Pobably because the Queen is his godmother?
I think Charles lives at Althorp full time because he is the earl now and running the estate is his job. I get the impression that Harry has kept up his relationship with Diana’s family, specifically with his aunts, and he seems to be the one that is close to them. They played a part at the wedding and Archie’s christening. I’m not sure about this, but I think the connection to South Africa comes from his marriage to his first wife, who might still live there.
His ex-wife does live there, but Charles moved his family to South Africa while they were still married to escape the press. He lived there until they were divorced in 1997.
I don’t blame him for not going. If I were him, I would only be thinking of what this man did to my sister, or how it should be my sister there being crowned alongside him, not the mistress who made her life hell. (presumably he would only have wanted her there if the first and third things weren’t true.)
I’m sure some of the aristos on the B list are breathing a sigh of relief that they are that much closer to an invite.
Good for him. Whilst the uninvited members of the peerage are frothing at the mouth to get invites he simply gives them the finger. None of the Spencers have ever fawned over UpChuck, and the fact that Camzilla is QC must be a terrible slap in the face after what she and KC3 did to Diana. I thought his answer was very restrained and diplomatic, but the point was made abundantly clear that he thinks little of the BRF and the UpChucking.
Diana was a teen when Charles proposed to her. She looked so young and vulnerable. Charles and Camilla have a lot to Answer for.
His feelings are justifiable. He is so over it….
Whatever ‘it’ is…..
I love that his thoughts about his sister is not in relation to the institute.
I’m not a huge fan of Charles Spencer but, on this occasion I’m totally on his side. I’m glad he’s come out and said he’s not going. IMHO his attendance at the Chubbly would be interpreted by the media as an act of forgiveness for all the horrid things C&C did to Diana.
I don’t think Charles Spencer is better than Charles Windsor. He cheated on his wives, got married three times, and didn’t even bother to attend his daughter’s wedding.
He also left his second wife for another woman. The children were young the youngest still an infant.
I recently watched a PBS program about Althorp. Some archeologists were doing digs on the grounds to get a better idea of its history. This was done with Spencer’s permission and cooperation. He even joined them at the sites of the digs. The impression was that he lives there full time.
He says he won’t be attending the con-a-nation because he’s moved on with his life. That’s good since I doubt he’s invited. Indifference is the best revenge. In SPARE, Harry described his visit to Althorp (and Diana’s burial place) with Meghan just days before the queen died. It sounded like his uncle and aunts secretly arranged the visit which wasn’t revealed at all until SPARE was released. Half of Harry’s family doesn’t leak, at least.
His ex Victoria still stays in SA. Not him.
He is starting to look exactly like his father.
What a despicable man, treated the women in his life like dirt.
It was always ironic that he gave such a protective eulogy at his sister’s funeral considering he refused her a cottage on the grounds of her childhood home in the months before her death.
Whenever I think of him , I always think of the horrible speech he made about his first wife at their wedding.
HandforthParish, Charles did offer a place for Diana to live on the estate. He subsequently sued the bm and won, because they said he didn’t.
Thanks for the clarification on giving Diana a place to stay. I only read Tatler Tina Brown’s book about Diana, which claimed he didn’t. Good on him to suing BM.
Diana turned down the other location and she had her reasons for doing so. He should not have offered the first one to her until he was sure…
A festival at Althorp on Chubbly Day in honor of Diana. H&M could attend that instead.
Oooo…YES! What an awesome idea!
Brilliant idea!! Yes, please Charles have a celebration of how much more the Spencer genes are English, as well as an older institution, than the Windsors!!!
Frankly I think Chuck didn’t send invitations to the Spencer’s because they are living reminders of the woman who should be crowned by Chuck’s side, not the side chick who is going to be. The press is going to bring up Diana which is another reason the three day Chubbly is a bad idea.
I mean…has he been invited? We know that half of Debrett’s are supposedly all clamouring for invites. Is it a given that the Diana’s brother would be on the guest list? Or do we think this is a pre-emptive tactic to say that he won’t go?
Somebody more knowledgeable than me on this can chime in, but I think because he’s an earl (an hereditary earl), that makes him a member of the House of Lords & therefore he would be invited automatically. Except I think we read they weren’t ALL going to be invited, which put some in a snit.
But he is also directly related to the heir and the heir’s children, so that could put a wrinkle in things if he’s not invited.
That’s got to absolutely kill him, seeing the mistress and not his sister being crowned. Also, it brings up what a tragedy it is that she’s gone and in such a horrible way.
His current wife, Karen Spencer, is extremely involved with restoring their estate. They put out weekly videos showing all the things she discovers, and her plans for the future. It’s fascinating. He’s a historian, and has written several books. From Harry’s book and interviews it appears that he’s very close to the Spencer side of the family, including his uncle.
Wow. I would have gone full out tearing C&C apart if I was him. Full out!
The horribly cruel way Diana was treated by C&C will not be forgotten by those of us Diana’s age. Ever.
I do hope H&M are close to the Spencer side of the family.
I will not watch one second of the KingTampon BS.
Same sentiments here @HEYKAY.
Not my king. Not my queen. I might even get a sign made saying this to display in my window for the weekend in question. Although in the quite conservative area I live in I would likely get some pretty hard stares and a few pearl clutching ‘tut-tuts’ or the like 😂.
Anyway, I will not be watching it or attending the inevitable 2nd day street party my neighbours will have or contributing to any 3rd day performative con-a-nation volunteering activities. I do regular volunteer work for a debt aid & homeless centre and have done for years. Many of us don’t actually need a special edict from C&C to contribute to our communities. Service is universal.
I love his IDAF about the BRF swag! Agree with those above about the Spencer tiara… would ONLY watch the Chubbly if Meg was there with it on her shiny locks! Also still convinced the only reason she was “offered” a tiara last minute (which was obstructed at every turn) was so she wouldn’t wear the Spencer tiara and reinforce the “People’s Princess” narrative that was happening on the actual ground.
Did he forget he’s an Earl?
I mean…that’s part of the gig innit?
I think, but I may be wrong, that Charles Spencer refused Princess Diana refuge at Althorp post- divorce. I don’t believe they ever got on, but that was goddamned cold of him. And now he has 36 trees on his property around Diana’s grave for the tourists. Also, he’s on his third wife and I think number 2 and 3 were picked because of their extreme wealth and willingness to help maintain Althorp. I believe Harry and Will attended his second wedding, but not his third.
Eff this baby boy of a man. When Diana got divorced and she had no place to go to that would offer protection, she asked him, her only brother if she could stay at his house – HER house the house she grew up in and he said
NO
He wasn’t even living there at the time, his sister asked if she could live there and he said NO
Eff Baby Boy Spencer who could not be bothered to let his beloved sister live in the house she grew up in, but will shed tears for cash on her name
Totally irrelevant to this topic mainly because I don’t care about this Chubbly and I hope that there are protests everywhere for this adulterous king and his side piece. Diana is the only royal who would have earned this day being celebrated, not this two horrible people and their backups.
Anyway, sorry for the rant, but I just want say how much I loved the final part of Harry’s memoir when he spoke about finally taking the woman of his dreams to meet his mother. I adore his aunts and I love how they and his uncle were all there for that special moment in Harry’s life. It makes me happy as a mother that he has some loving family in the UK. It was a beautiful full circle moment for him and I love that for him.