For the first years of Princess Diana’s life, her father was still waiting to become the Earl of Spencer – his father (Diana’s grandfather) was still alive and in residence at Althorp, the grand estate of the Spencer family. So as heir to the earldom, Diana’s father John “Johnny” Spencer rented Park House on the Sandringham estate for years while his children were small. Diana’s father didn’t become the Earl Spencer until she was around the age of 14, which is when the family moved into Althorp. Renting Park House on the royal family’s private estate showed the close, historic ties between the Windsors and the Spencers, and Diana and her siblings socialized with the royal family for many years before Diana married Charles. Well, speaking of King Charles… he’s decided that his first wife’s childhood home should rot.
Princess Diana’s childhood home has been left to fall into sad disrepair – a stone’s throw from Charles’ pristine Sandringham House. Diana was born at Park House on the Royals’ Norfolk estate in 1961 and lived at the mansion until she was 14. But our exclusive pictures show the once glamorous property appears to lie abandoned, with overgrown grass, peeling window paint and stained bricks. A dilapidated shed with a caved-in roof and smashed windows sits in the grounds where a young Diana and her siblings once played. And the swimming pool is surrounded by a metal fence to keep trespassers out.
Last night locals reacted furiously and accused Charles of “disrespecting” Diana’s legacy. Selina Raines, 38, who lives in the nearby village of Snettisham, said: “It’s heartbreaking to learn how the house has been left. If locals were aware they would be shocked – but you can’t see it [the house] from the road so very few know how it’s been left, it’s really sad.”
A barmaid, who didn’t want to provide her name because she lives on the estate, chimed: “It’s disrespectful – the house should be restored to how it was. The Estate houses that are hidden from public view don’t get what they need.”
Diana lived at Park House, which her parents rented from the late Queen, until moving to the family’s Northamptonshire stately home Althorp in 1975. The 16-bed pad was later donated to charity Leonard Cheshire and ran as a respite hotel for adults with disabilities for over 30 years. But spiralling costs post-pandemic meant it was handed back to the estate in May 2021 and has stood empty ever since.
Several locals would like to see the house returned to a charity to support the community. A retired occupational therapist, who worked with disabled residents at the house before it shuttered, told us: “It was marvellous – it’s very sad [that it has been left to rot]. Everything was beautiful, all the equipment was new and they had waiting lists. I would like to see it returned to what it was like back then, but I don’t think with the health service we’ve got at the moment that it’s going to happen.”
The mansion is just 500 metres away from King Charles’ immaculately kept 150-bed Sandringham House. And it sits adjacent to the church of St Mary Magdalene, where the Royals attend the Christmas Day service each year.
Charles, 76, has plugged cash into several projects on the estate in recent years. Last June, he was given the green light to open a 25-acre luxury glamping site, complete with 15 ‘safari tents’ and a Motorhome Club campsite. One local told us: “King Charles has money to put into his caravan site but not to put into the house Diana grew up in.” And in November the green-fingered monarch installed 2,000 solar panels in a bid to improve the estate’s climate footprint.
Again, Sandringham is “privately owned” by the monarch, and Sandringham has its own self-supporting, money-generating schemes too – there are Sandringham-branded food items and liquor and beer. Besides that, Charles has a “personal” wealth in the hundreds of millions, if not billions. My point is that the money is not the issue – there’s plenty of money to renovate a historic mansion on the Sandringham estate without using one cent of “public funds.” Alas, Charles despised Diana and he wants everything she touched to rot, up to and including Diana’s younger son and her childhood home. I remember reading about how Camilla has really taken over Sandringham too – she changed out a lot of staffers and redecorated some of the main house. I’m sure her hoof prints are all over this too.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
