Prince Harry has been dealt a major blow with news he will not be inheriting his mother Princess Diana’s Estate, with the property instead set to be handed down to one surprising family member.
Daily Mirror Royal Editor Russel Myers has weighed in on speculation as to why Prince Harry and Meghan Markle decided to leave the UK and the Royal Family.
It comes as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex reportedly decision to leave the UK was motivated to protect their ‘sanity’ and physical well-being.
“I think they have their own reasons,” Mr Myers said.
“I think its several folds this issue that they didn’t want to play second fiddle to William and Kate; they didn’t want to sort of stitch into the hierarchy of the royal family.
“But, certainly, I suppose they feel they are making a go of it in the United States; they feel like they have a lot to offer.
“The only way they are going to repair this relationship with the family is by taking their foot off the gas; stop criticising the rest of the royals.”
Harry, 39, and his brother Prince William, 42, received most of Diana’s £13million fortune and the bulk of her jewellery when the people’s princess on August 31, 1997, died in a car crash while fleeing the paparazzi aged 36.
The brothers did not, however, inherit the Spencer family’s home since 1508 being Althorp Estate in Northampton, where Diana grew up and where she was laid to rest.
Prince Harry will not inherit his mother Princess Diana’s childhood home and her estate will instead be handed down to the Duke’s star cousin. Picture: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
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Her 13,500-acre childhood home will instead be inherited by Harry and William’s 30-year-old cousin Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, who is the son of Diana’s younger brother Earl Charles Spencer.
Louis has three older sisters, but they will not inherit the sprawling estate due to the aristocracy’s system of primogeniture, where titles and property are passed down to the oldest male.
Louis’ older sister Kitty Spencer, 33, previously dished the details about her feelings on her brother inheriting the property.
“Primogeniture can be a tricky topic, because as times are changing, attitudes are as well,” she told Town and Country magazine.
Louis Spencer (second from left), Victoria Aitken and Kitty Spencer attended the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018. Picture: by Chris Radburn – WPA Pool/Getty Images
“We’ve grown up understanding that it’s Louis’s to inherit, and Louis will do an incredible job.”
It’s understood Louis, who likes to stay out of the spotlight, already began attending Trustee meetings in preparation for his inheritance.
“He has been to trustees’ meetings when he can. I don’t want to burden him,” Charles Spencer previously said according to The Telegraph.
“It’s a lot. I would be totally relaxed about Kitty inheriting it, but…if I chose Kitty, it would be against all the tradition that goes with Althorp.”
Charles Spencer is the current caretaker of the 90-room property which reportedly includes a portrait gallery, lake, and 28 subsidiary listed structures spanning farming, forestry and field sports business.
The vast estate opens its doors to visitors in European summer in July through August.
Its future caretaker Louis has been described as possessing a reserved personality and simply “gets on quietly with his thing”.
“He’s super private and gets on quietly with his thing. He’s a very talented actor and, I think, will be a brilliant one. You’d like him,” a source told the Telegraph.
“He’s very low-key and genuine, decent and kind and tall.”
Louis studied the University of Edinburgh before kickstarting an acting career at a drama school in Chiswick, London.
The actor is currently represented by Tavistock Wood talent agency.