The Duke and Duchess of Sussex will not move to the 13,000-acre estate where Harry’s mother Princess Diana grew up, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.
This newspaper has learned that Earl Spencer, Harry’s uncle, was prepared to offer a house to the couple at Althorp, the estate in Northamptonshire that has been the Spencer family home for over 500 years.
The Sussexes, however, did not make such a request during a weekend stay with their children there last month. Instead, they are understood to have pinpointed a property in the Cotswolds as their UK home when they return here in the coming days.
Harry remained close to Charles Spencer after his and Meghan’s dramatic decision in 2020 to quit as senior royals and forge a new life across the Atlantic.
The duke has visited Althorp, where Diana is buried, a number of times in recent years, including what has been described as a ‘blissful’ few days spent with his wife and their two children last month.
In family photographs shared by the duchess on Instagram, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and Prince Harry can be seen walking down a tree-lined avenue on the estate.
In one picture, the duke and his seven-year-old son can be seen carrying bouquets, which are thought to have been laid at Diana’s grave. In another photo, Harry playfully launches his daughter through the air in a pool in the grounds, while Meghan can be seen swimming in the background.
The photographs fuelled speculation that the family could move to a property on the estate. In an article published last week, royal biographer and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown wrote: ‘It is widely thought that Charles Spencer will offer up a house at Althorp, which sits on 13,000 acres in Northamptonshire.’
Earl Spencer and Prince Harry at Kensington Palace for the unveiling of a statue of Princess Diana in 2021
In a photograph shared by the Duchess of Sussex on Instagram, Prince Archie, Princess Lilibet and Prince Harry can be seen walking down a tree-lined avenue on the Althorp estate
Althorp house, seat of Earl Spencer and childhood home and burial place of Diana Princess of Wales
But a source close to the earl last night denied the claim. ‘If Harry had asked his uncle for a property at Althorp, he would have done all he could to find him somewhere suitable,’ the source said. ‘But he [Harry] has made his own plans.’
The MoS understands that Earl Spencer was unaware that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex were on the brink of moving to the UK.
Indeed, it is believed that the first he knew of his nephew’s plans was last Thursday morning when the story broke in the newspapers.
‘It was known that he [Harry] wanted to come back but it was not known that it was imminent,’ the source added.
It has been suggested Meghan may have visited two schools in the Cotswolds when Prince Harry attended an Invictus Games event in July, while sources said the Sussexes could be moving to a home owned by a celebrity in the area.
Earl Spencer offered Diana the use of the 16th-century Wormleighton Manor in Warwickshire after the breakdown of her marriage with the then Prince Charles. However, she declined the offer.
