A farmhouse at Princess Diana’s former home has been destroyed in an arson attack, her brother Earl Spencer claimed.
Firefighters rushed last night to the scene of a blaze at one of the farmhouses on Althorp Estate, which houses the Grade I-listed stately home where the late Princess of Wales used to live.
The Earl shared photos of the fire on social media and said he was “stunned” to learn that the house “was apparently burnt down by vandals last night”.
He said the building was unoccupied at the time and wrote: “So very sad that anyone would think this a fun thing to do.”
Image credits: Russ Quinlan / Flickr
As per the BBC, the large fire started at the late 18th century Dallington Grange farmhouse on Mill Lane, in Kingsthorpe, at around 1:30am on Wednesday (May 28).
A spokesman from Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue service said they arrived to find the two-story property “fully on fire.”
Northamptonshire Police said the incident had “not been recorded as a crime at present, but this could change if there is evidence to indicate it was started deliberately”.
Image credits: cspencer1508 / X
Firefighters reportedly used hose-reel jets to contain the blaze and prevent it from spreading further.
“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,” stated the Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The home has been in the Spencer family for more than 500 years. It is part of a 13,000 acre estate that has been owned by Charles Spencer since 1992.
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Lady Di, the mother of Prince William and Prince Harry, lived in the Grade I-listed property from the time her parents John Spencer and Frances Shand Kydd divorced in 1969 to her marriage to King Charles in 1981.
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Adey Greeno, the estate’s long-standing head gamekeeper, provided more details about the fire. He said: “The farmhouse that we lost to a deliberate act of vandalism last night has now had to be razed to the ground for safety reasons.
“So sad. The world we live in.”
Image credits: AdeysAlthorp / X
David Fawkes, chief executive of the Althorp Estate, said: “The house and farm buildings have been unoccupied for several years and the site is scheduled for redevelopment as part of the Dallington Grange development.
“The farmhouse was built in the late 18th Century, and it has been completely destroyed by the fire, but the surrounding outbuildings are undamaged. Our priority is to secure the site and make sure it is safe.
“We are very grateful to Northampton Fire and Rescue Service and the estate team for dealing with the fire so effectively. We don’t know how the fire started.”
Image credits: Queensland State Archives / Flickr
The princess tragically passed aged 36 following a car crash in Paris in 1997.
Diana was buried on a small island in an ornamental lake, known as The Oval, within the grounds of the country estate.
In his book Althorp: The Story of an English House, Earl Spencer revealed the family’s decision to bury his sister on The Oval, writing, “We all agreed that, with its beauty and tranquility, this was the place for Diana to be.”
Diana’s gravesite cannot be reached by members of the public, but the Althorp is home to a memorial known as the ‘temple’ that is visited by approximately 150,000 people a year since it opened in 1998.
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