Princess Diana's Brother Reveals Stunning Christmas Tree at Family Home

Princess Diana's brother Charles has delighted royal fans by revealing a glimpse of the Christmas decorations at the royal's childhood home Althorp House, with a stunning Christmas tree the central focus in the house's enormous saloon.

Charles, whose title is Earl Spencer, is perhaps best known for delivering an emotional and hard-hitting eulogy at his sister's 1997 funeral, in which he appeared to take aim at the press and the royal family for their treatment of the princess who died in a Paris car crash weeks after her 36th birthday.

Diana and her siblings spent much of their childhoods at Althorp House having moved in when their father assumed his earldom upon the death of their grandfather in 1975.

It is where the princess is buried, on an island in the center of an oval lake on the estate.

Spencer regularly posts about Althorp on his social media channels, and on Tuesday revealed the imposing Christmas tree which stands in a corner of the historic house's saloon and staircase hall.

Alongside the image of the large tree with red and gold decorations, the earl posted the caption: "Happy Christmas / Holidays to you!"

The trees used in the saloon each year are traditionally grown on the wider Althorp estate which occupies some 13,000 acres of the Northamptonshire countryside.

In 2021, the earl gave some insight into the trees chosen for the task of standing proudly in the grand house, posting a photo of that year's effort with the caption:

"This 23-foot tree was grown on the Estate at @althorphouse specifically for this task— holding together the Saloon (central hallway) in the run up to Christmas, and into the New Year. Wishing you all a happy and healthy Christmas and 2022."

It is in the saloon that a large painting of one of the Spencer clan's most famous daughters, Diana, now hangs. The portrait was painted by Nelson Shanks in 1994 and hung at her apartment in Kensington Palace until her death whereupon it was inherited by her sons and sent to Althorp.

Althorp is not the only royal residence to display some regal Christmas cheer.

Earlier this month, Queen Camilla welcomed a group of children and their carers from Helen and Douglas House and Roald Dahl's Marvellous Children's Charity to a Christmas party at Clarence House.

The queen consort helped the children decorate a large Christmas tree in the residence's library and served up a festive feast in the dining room.

Windsor Castle too has seen a transformation, with a 20-foot-high tree erected in St. George's Hall and treasures from the royal collection brought out of the vaults to enhance the seasonal displays.

This year, King Charles III will make his first Christmas speech as monarch, following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September.

Elizabeth delivered a Christmas broadcast every year of her reign bar one. From 1952 to 1967 the addresses were broadcast over the radio and thereafter also on television. In 1969, the monarch decided to issue a printed message instead following the recording and broadcast of a fly-on-the-wall royal documentary which, though innocuous in content, was widely considered damaging to the overall mystique of the monarchy.

Charles' speech will be broadcast on Christmas day at 3 p.m. U.K. time (10 a.m. EST). At which time he will be at Sandringham House in Norfolk hosting the traditional royal family Christmas set out by the late-queen.

Newsweek approached Earl Spencer for comment.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek's Royal Reporter based in London. You can find him on Twitter at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek's The Royals Facebook page.

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