Earl Spencer shares rare glimpse of family portraits - and Princess Diana has pride of place

Earl Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, has given a unique glimpse inside his historic family home Althorp House - and his late sister’s portrait has pride of place.

• Charles Spencer’s latest Instagram post shows a selection of important family portraits hanging majestically above the staircase at Althorp House.
• Royal fans were delighted to see his late sister Princess Diana’s portrait amongst them. 
• This royal news (opens in new tab) comes after it was revealed that the Queen is in ‘constant crisis meetings’ since Prince Harry and Meghan’s Oprah interview ‘wreaked havoc’ on the Royal Family (opens in new tab).

Charles Spencer, Earl Spencer has given royal fans a rare sneak peek into the spectacular hallway of his historic family home, Althorp House. The stunning Northamptonshire home was where he, Princess Diana, and their sisters grew up. Recently, Charles’ daughter Lady Amelia Spencer revealed her plans to get married there (opens in new tab).

Earl Spencer inherited the stately home from his father and lives there with his wife Karen, Countess Spencer, and their daughter Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer.

Charles often posts stunning snaps of the Spencer family home and recently shared an emotional Mother's Day photo (opens in new tab). Yesterday he took to Instagram to share another deeply personal snap.

Taking to Instagram, Earl Spencer shared an adorable picture of his pet cat sitting on a stunning patterned rug on the stairs. He light-heartedly captioned the picture, ‘Blending in. #rodentpatrol’. 

The family pet is certainly cute, though it was the family portraits visible hanging in the background that really caught people’s attention. Amongst a series of significant family portraits, some eagle-eyed royal fans spotted an especially emotional one. 

On the left, a portrait of Charles’ sister, Princess Diana can be seen. The late Princess of Wales is depicted wearing a beautiful teal skirt and ruffled cream blouse, her iconic short blonde hair clearly visible. 

‘Omg Princess Diana ❤️🙏🏿 ' one person commented excitedly, whilst another wrote: ‘❤️such a lovely painting collection! am princess Dianas fan!’ 

One Instagram user also commented on the proximity of Princess Diana’s portrait to that of Earl Spencer’s wife Karen, writing: ‘The portrait of your wife next to Princess Diana is beautiful!’

The portrait depicts Karen, Countess Spencer wearing the stunning purple outfit she wore to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding (opens in new tab) in May 2018. 

Whilst Earl Spencer’s Instagram post only showed a few of the portraits hanging above the stairs, it seems some people were keen to see more. 

‘Any portraits of your other sisters?’ one asked.

Portraits of Earl Spencer and Princess Diana’s sisters Sarah and Jane weren’t spotted in this particular post. Though given the positive response from Charles Spencer’s Instagram followers, it could be that we get to see more Spencer family portraits in the future.

We can’t wait!