There’s not much the brothers see eye to eye on these days, but one thing that Prince William and Prince Harry can no doubt agree on is their mutual love for their late mother, the much-missed Princess Diana. As much as Diana’s two sons don’t speak anymore, it’s important to note that they are still equally close to their mother’s side of the family, the Spencers, with Diana’s relatives both supporting William in public and sheltering Harry during a trip to the U.K. in recent times.
Given William and Harry’s closeness to the Spencers, then, not to mention the former’s future total power once he becomes king of the realm, you might expect that one of them stands to inherit Althorp, the grand country mansion that was Diana’s childhood home and where she is buried. As it happens, it’s the boys’ cousin, Louis — who happens to be an actor — who will inherit the estate, thanks to an old-fashioned quirk of the British nobility.
Who is William and Harry’s cousin, Louis Spencer, and how come he inherits Diana’s childhood home?
As Althorp has been the ancestral home of the Spencers for around about 500 years, it was never going to pass down to either William or Harry as they are not the descendants of the incumbent Viscount Althorp, aka Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer. In that case, you might expect the sprawling 13,000-acre estate located in Northamptonshire to pass onto Diana’s niece, Lady Kitty, Charles’ oldest child. As it happens, it’ll pass to his fourth oldest offspring, Louis.
Despite having three older sisters, Louis is all set to not only become the 10th Early Spencer after his father dies but also inherit the Althorp estate. This is due to the antiquated law of primogeniture, which states that the eldest male descendant will inherit titles and land, superseding any female relatives older than him.
As for Louis himself, the future earl is known to keep to himself and rarely appears in the public glare — which is ironic considering his choice of profession. An insider source confessed to The Telegraph that Louis hopes to make it big in the acting world. “He’s super private and gets on quietly with his thing,” the source revealed. “He’s a very talented actor and, I think, will be a brilliant one. You’d like him. He’s very low-key and genuine, decent and kind and tall.”
The law that means Louis will follow in his father’s footsteps is growing more and more unpopular these days, with even the Royal Family recently doing away with it — thanks to a rule change in 2015, Princess Charlotte officially outranks her younger brother, another Louis, in the line of succession. However, Lady Kitty Spencer claims to have no qualms about being short-changed out of her own inheritance.
“Primogeniture can be a tricky topic, because as times are changing, attitudes are as well,” she said. “We’ve grown up understanding that it’s Louis to inherit, and Louis will do an incredible job.”
When it comes to William and Harry, they are unlikely to be too miffed that they’ll miss out on inheriting Althorp as it’s not like either of them are short on properties to their name. William will eventually own the (at least) 30 stately homes that come with the crown while Harry at least has two places to lay down his hat — his Montecito mansion and his and Meghan’s bolthole in Portugal. Speaking of Meghan, Louis might want to cozy up to Cousin Harry to see if his wife can help give his acting career a boost.
Published: Jan 27, 2025 10:04 am