Earl Spencer Reveals Why Harry and Meghan’s Summer Visit to Althorp Was So Bittersweet

For Charles Spencer, seeing Prince Harry’s children racing around Althorp brought a moment of genuine happiness, but it also highlighted a loss that has never stopped feeling painful.

The 9th Earl Spencer recently reflected on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s summer visit to the Spencer family estate in Northamptonshire, where their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, spent time at the historic property.

Speaking about the visit during an appearance on ITV’s Lorraine, Spencer said it was wonderful to see the children enjoying themselves. Yet watching Diana’s grandchildren at Althorp also made him think about the grandmother they never had the chance to know.

Harry and Meghan’s summer visit to the UK

Harry and Meghan brought Archie and Lilibet to the United Kingdom during the summer, where the family spent several days in the country.

One of the most significant moments came on July 10, when King Charles III and Queen Camilla hosted the Sussex family at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire. It was the first known in-person meeting between Charles and his grandchildren Archie and Lilibet since the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022.

The family also visited Spencer at Althorp, the Northamptonshire estate that has remained closely associated with Princess Diana and her family.

For Spencer, the visit carried a particular emotional significance. His new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, revisits his relationship with Diana and the events surrounding her life and death. The book was released in September 2026, nearly 30 years after Diana’s death.

Seeing Diana’s grandchildren at Althorp brought mixed emotions

During his Lorraine interview, Spencer recalled the pleasure of having Harry and his family stay at Althorp.

He described seeing Archie and Lilibet running around the house as a lovely experience. But the sight also brought the absence of Diana sharply into focus.

“You mentioned Harry came to stay in the summer with his family, and that was lovely,” Spencer said. “Although when I look, you know, it’s so sad. I saw the two little kids running around, and the sadness of not having Diana around.”

Diana died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997, when William and Harry were still children. As a result, she never met any of her grandchildren, including Archie and Lilibet.

For Spencer, seeing Diana’s grandchildren at the family home made it especially easy to imagine the relationship she might have had with them.

Spencer imagines Diana as a great-grandmother

Spencer went on to imagine what Diana might have been like had she lived long enough to become a grandmother and, eventually, a great-grandmother.

“Can you imagine what a great-grandmother Diana would have been? Spoiling them rotten!” he said.

The thought is consistent with how Diana’s sons have previously described her personality as a mother. In a 2017 documentary, Prince William recalled how he keeps Diana’s memory alive for his children, Prince George and Princess Charlotte, by talking about her and reminding them that they had two grandmothers in their lives.

William also joked that Diana would have been an “absolute nightmare” grandmother because she would have loved her grandchildren so much. He imagined her arriving at bath time, creating chaos with bubbles and water before leaving again.

The affectionate description offered a glimpse of how William remembers his mother: energetic, playful and deeply involved in the lives of the people she loved.

Sarah Ferguson has imagined the same bond

The idea of Diana as a doting grandmother has also been raised by Sarah Ferguson, Duchess of York.

Ferguson has spoken warmly about how much Diana would have loved seeing her sons become fathers and spending time with their children. She once imagined that the two women would have competed playfully over who could spoil their grandchildren the most, describing it as a “gran off.”

Ferguson has also previously spoken about how she imagined Diana participating in ordinary activities with their grandchildren, saying they would have been running around together and enjoying family games.

A family connection that still carries Diana’s memory

For Spencer, the sight of Archie and Lilibet at Althorp therefore represented both a joyful family moment and a reminder of someone missing from it.

Diana was known for her close relationship with William and Harry, and her influence remains part of how her sons talk about raising their own children. William has said that he regularly talks to George and Charlotte about their grandmother so they understand who she was and that she existed.

That same sense of an absent grandmother was apparent to Spencer as he watched Diana’s grandchildren play at Althorp.

His comments came as he discussed Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, his deeply personal account of Diana’s life and their relationship. Published on September 22, 2026, the memoir draws on Spencer’s memories of growing up alongside his sister and the devastating events surrounding her death.

Nearly three decades after Diana’s death, her absence remains particularly visible in moments when her grandchildren gather with the family she left behind. At Althorp, Spencer saw that contrast firsthand: Archie and Lilibet enjoying the home their grandmother once knew, while he could only imagine the relationship Diana might have shared with them.