Stay At Princess Diana’s Childhood Home: A Bed & Breakfast For Wealthy Guests


Princess Diana’s childhood home is being turned into a bed and breakfast. If you want to see what it’s like living an aristocratic lifestyle, Diana’s bother, Earl Charles Spencer, has made it a virtual reality. The family’s Althorp Estate is fit for royalty, with 90 rooms that includes 30 bedrooms, a variety of dining rooms, and living rooms. It also has a library chock-full of antique books from the 1800s and earlier.

Page Six reports that in order to stay at Princess Diana’s childhood home, you’ll need a “king’s ransom.” The cost is $40,000 per couple for a weekend, and $250,000 for a group of 18 people.

The money does go to a good cause, according to the report. It’s donated to Whole Child International, a nonprofit that helps orphaned children in developing countries. It’s said to be a pet charity of Spencer’s third and current wife, Countess Karen Spencer.

“Millions of children are really being stunted in all areas of their development and not being given the opportunity to grow up to be productive members of society,” the countess said. “And not only is that tragic, it’s also extremely expensive. These are children that are going to go on to cost a huge amount of money in the long-term.”

The goal is to make the charity more efficient to help children mostly located in Nicaragua and El Salvador.

Charles Spencer made the decision long ago to allow visitors to tour the 14,000-acre Althorp Estate after Diana’s death. The property is open during the summer months for tourists to see where the late Princess of Wales grew up. Several of her designer dresses were up for display in a makeshift museum in one of the old stables near the mansion. There’s also a gift shop with several books on the Spencer family and how it came to came they came to prominence. An exhibition celebrating Princess Diana’s life was closed in 2013, however.

Charles Spencer was criticized for exploiting his sister’s memory and trying to make money off it in the years following her death. The earl knows opening Princess Diana’s childhood home as a bed and breakfast to complete strangers will get people talking once more.

“I’m sure there will be people saying, ‘How can they do that?’ and ‘It’s lowering themselves,’ ” Spencer told NBC News. “It’s not. I always thought of this house as contributing. It’s not just a little bastion or fortress of privilege.”

The estate is already a venue for weddings and formal events. The bed and breakfast is just one added option.

The report states that some will have the opportunity to sleep in Diana’s old bedroom. Daily Mail writes that there will also be days of “entertainment and conversation,” along with a black-tie banquet for guests.

Guests will have access to some of the world’s most impressive artwork. There are paintings by Leonardo Da Vinci and stunning portraits of Diana.

Althorp has expansive grounds that guests can tour with beautifully maintained gardens abound. Princess Diana is buried on a small island at the Oval Lake on the estate. A memorial is there for people to pay their respects to her.

The 100,000-square-foot Tudor-style mansion at Althorp was built in 1508 and has been in the Spencer family for 500 years. It’s located in Northamptonshire, about 75 miles north from London.

With money that the Spencers can make from guests willing to pay $40,000 or $125,000 for a 3-day stay at Princess Diana’s childhood home, it’s sure to significantly help the couple’s charity.

[Photo by AP Photo/John Glanvill]

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