Princess Diana's younger brother Earl Charles Spencer has revealed a "ever-ending" issue on the family's 13,000-acre Northamptonshire estate, where he and Diana spent a large portion of their childhood.
Charles sold 310 acres of farmland in Dallington, Northamptonshire, last year after waste was increasingly discarded on the property, he explained in an article written for the Daily Mail. The Earl said that "what made the sale inevitable was rubbish," detailing the Althorp estate's ongoing struggle to manage fly-tipping and vandalism.
"This wasn’t litter, nor the odd fridge dumped in a gateway. It was lorry-loads of construction waste tipped in the dead of night, asbestos sheeting left to rot in a hedgerow and, on one occasion, 60 burnt-out cars stacked on what used to be good pasture," he claimed.
© GettyHe said the final straw was when a historic farmhouse on the property had to be demolished after it was allegedly set on fire. The Earl claimed they had "fought dumping and fly-tipping for years" and had put up gates, cameras and warning signs as additional security measures. However, the issue persisted.
"We have six full-time skips at Althorp, dealing with this scourge," the Earl wrote, calling the issue "never-ending".
The Spencer family's estate
Charles and his family have farmed in Dallington, which sits alongside the Althorp estate and beside the Spencer family's former home, Dallington Hall, since 1983. The 310 acres of farmland was sold to Persimmon Homes for £60 million, according to The Telegraph.
"My family long despaired at the impossibility of farming the land at Dallington, but is pleased that it now serves a fine purpose as a place for people to live and work," the Earl said, as per the publication.
© Alamy Stock PhotoThe money from the sale will reportedly be reinvested in the family's Althorp Estate, which Charles inherited when he became the 9th Earl Spencer following his father, John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer's death in 1992.
The Spencer family also used to own Dallington Hall in Northamptonshire, but sold the property in 1980 to be converted into apartments. In 2023, the property was listed for sale for an asking price of £995,000.
Diana's childhood home
© Getty ImagesAlthorp has been in the Spencer family for generations, spanning 500 years since buying the property in 1508. After growing up at Park House on the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, Diana and her three siblings spent part of their childhood at Althorp.
Diana was 14 years old when the family moved to the estate following the death of her grandfather, upon which her father inherited the 8th Earl Spencer title. The estate is also where the royal was laid to rest following her tragic death in 1997. Diana's final burial site is on a private tree-covered island in the grounds.
