Althorp

On Tuesday, July 6 we took a day trip to Althorp, the family estate of the Spencer family, and the burial place of Princess Diana. It was about a 2-hour drive one-way from Rebecca & Earl's house, but the trusty GPS guided the way and we found it without a problem.

Althorp is basically a large family estate that has been in the Spencer family for generations. The house is now lived in by Princess Diana's younger brother Charles, the 9th Earl of Spencer, and his family. The house was undergoing extensive restoration on the outside, but we still were able to go into quite a few rooms in the house. I remember lots of old furniture and lots of pictures on the wall of people who lived in the 1500s, 1600s and 1700s. I think I saw one picture of Princess Diana but it wasn't any bigger than the others or given any prominence.

The stablehouse has been converted into several exhibits on Princess Diana, including some videos and memorabilia from her childhood, her wedding dress, dresses she wore during her lifetime, more items that she owned or letters that she wrote, and finally a whole wall of books of condolence that were received by her family after her death. Villages throughout England had open books of condolence at city hall or other common gathering places, so many wrote notes. There were also books from around the world. Overall, I found it very well done. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the exhibits, unfortunately.

The estate is only open from July 1st (Diana's birthday) to August 30th (the day before she died).

Susie and Denise taking a break.

Princess Diana is buried on an island in the middle of a small pond, unmarked except for the monument on the island, which I assume is her gravestone. If you didn't know otherwise, you could easily think that she was buried at the monument in the background on the left. But if you read the website beforehand, you figure a few things out!

Susie (and some unknown man) at the the memorial for Princess Diana.

Another view of the island.

There was nice landscaping and sheep grazing in the fields nearby. I think the Spencers originally made their fortune from sheep farming (and having good connections).

After our tour we stopped in at the cafe for some scones and coddled cream. I guess coddled cream is an English delicacy. The scones were more like biscuits and the cream was kind of like thick butter, but very good.