Prince Harry Could Have Found a Home at Althorp — But the Sussexes Chose Their Own Path

Aug 25, 2026 by apost team

When the question of where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will live during their return to the United Kingdom surfaced, one name came up immediately: Althorp.

The 13,000-acre Northamptonshire estate has been the Spencer family seat for more than 500 years. It is where Princess Diana grew up. It is where she is buried, in a small island at the center of a lake on the grounds. Harry has stayed there before — during a September 2024 UK visit following the memorial for Lord Robert Fellowes, he remained with his uncle, Earl Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl. Meghan's July 2026 Instagram carousel appeared to show Harry and Archie walking along an Althorp path carrying bouquets of flowers — which many observers interpreted as a visit to Diana's grave.

With the Sussex family now preparing to relocate to Britain for an extended period, commentators had speculated that Earl Spencer might offer up accommodation on the Althorp estate. The Mail on Sunday confirmed that the offer was real. A source close to the earl told the paper: "If Harry had asked his uncle for a property at Althorp, he would have done all he could to find him somewhere suitable."

But Harry, born Sept. 15, 1984, has made his own plans. The Sussex family will not be living at Althorp. Their UK home base remains undisclosed — with reports pointing to the Cotswolds or elsewhere in Northamptonshire as possibilities — but it will not be the Spencer family estate.

The offer was made. It was received. Harry said thank you and went another way. And Charles Spencer, who promised at his sister's funeral to look after her sons, appears to have kept his word simply by asking.

The relationship between Harry and Earl Spencer has been one of the quieter constants of a very public family story. Spencer, born May 20, 1964, delivered the eulogy at Diana's funeral in September 1997 — a speech widely described as one of the most powerful pieces of public oratory of the 20th century — and promised in it that the Spencer family would do "all we can to steer these two young men so their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned."

He has tried to keep that promise. Royal experts have consistently described him as supportive of Harry behind the scenes — a presence that has not wavered even as Harry's relationship with the institution became strained. "Even when things were at their worst with the royals, Harry was always supported by his late mother's brother Earl Spencer," King Charles's former butler Grant Harrold told Marie Claire. "We know Meghan and Harry stayed at the Spencer family home earlier in the summer, so maybe conversations happened then."

There is one additional layer to the Althorp story. Earl Spencer's new book — "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister" — is due to be published September 22, 2026, just weeks after Harry and Meghan are expected to arrive in Britain. The book is understood to be critical of how senior royals handled Diana's death and its aftermath, including the decision to have William and Harry walk behind their mother's coffin. Harry may already know what the book contains. He may have discussed it at Althorp in July.

The offer of a home was made and declined. The book is coming regardless. The family that promised to look after Diana's sons is still, one way or another, keeping that promise.

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Do you think Earl Spencer's offer to house Harry and Meghan at Althorp shows just how much the Spencer family has supported Harry through the years? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family, friends, and other royal fans out there!