Does Princess Diana haunt Althorp House, her childhood home and final resting place – or do stranger spirits walk the historic estate?
If Althorp House has a famous ghost, most people would expect it to be Diana, Princess of Wales.
Diana spent part of her childhood at the Northamptonshire estate. Following her death on 31 August 1997, she was buried on an island within its ornamental Round Oval lake.
The secluded grave has inevitably attracted supernatural speculation. Psychics and paranormal television programmes have claimed to sense or contact Diana’s spirit.
Yet there are no well-established accounts of her ghost appearing at Althorp. No pale princess wanders beside the lake or watches visitors from an upstairs window.
Althorp’s traditional ghosts are much less famous. And considerably more interesting.
The groom who refused to retire
Althorp’s best ghost story dates from the middle of the 19th century.
The Dean of Lincoln was staying at the house as a guest of Frederick Spencer, the 4th Earl Spencer. During the night, the Dean awoke and saw someone enter his bedroom.
The intruder was dressed as a groom and carried a lighted candle.
Rather than delivering a warning or rattling a few chains, he began inspecting the room. He appeared to be checking that the other candles had been safely extinguished.
Having completed his rounds, the figure disappeared.
The following morning, the Dean complained about a servant entering his bedroom. His description reportedly matched a groom who had served the previous earl.
There was only one problem. The groom was dead.
It is a wonderfully practical haunting. The ghost does not shriek, threaten anyone or point towards buried treasure. He simply gets on with his work.
Candles presented a serious danger inside large country houses. One forgotten flame could destroy a bedroom or spread through an entire wing.
Althorp’s phantom groom apparently saw no reason to let death interfere with fire safety.
The girl with the grey slippers
A second ghost reportedly walks Althorp’s long Picture Gallery.
The gallery stretches for around 115 feet through the house’s west wing. Its old Tudor oak panelling survived later renovations and gives the room a suitably shadowy appearance.
Lady Margaret Douglas-Home spoke of a young female apparition seen there. She became known as “the girl with the grey slippers”.
Unfortunately, the slippers are almost all we know about her.
She has no recorded name, history or clear connection with the Spencer family. No murder, tragic romance or terrible betrayal has been attached to her story.
We do not even know why her slippers attracted particular attention. Perhaps they were the clearest part of the apparition. Perhaps someone at Althorp simply had an eye for footwear.
Whatever the reason, the detail stuck. The nameless girl and her grey slippers became part of the house’s folklore.
What does the Spencer family say?
Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer and Diana’s younger brother, recorded both stories in his 1998 book, Althorp: The Story of an English House.
However, he does not claim to have met either ghost.
Charles has said that he has never seen a ghost at Althorp or anywhere else. That has not stopped him preserving the stories passed down through the family.
Althorp has belonged to the Spencers since 1508. A house with five centuries of family history should be allowed at least a couple of unexplained residents.
Its ghosts are unusually quiet ones.
The girl in the gallery attracts attention through her slippers. The groom carries on checking candles, centuries after his final wages were paid.
Princess Diana may dominate Althorp’s modern story, but its older ghosts remain on duty.
