It seems tragically ironic, however, that the home of Princess Diana‘s teenage years, a place where, according to what cooks, governesses and maids have occasionally recounted – and with as much credibility as their testimonies have – she lived the most carefree, carefree and happy period of her life, was to be her last residence. On 6 September 1997, following her funeral at Westminster Abbey in London, her body was moved to Althorp, the Spencer family’s ancestral estate in Northamptonshire, and at the decision of her brother Charles, her body was interred in the presence of only close relatives on a small island in the middle of a lake.

His reasoning was that only surrounded by water would the late Lady find what she had sought for a lifetime: peace and quiet and distance from the world. The reasons were also practical, since the distance from land ensured that the tomb would remain unscathed by the worship events of Diana’s thespians or even by possible vandalism.

August 31 marks 27 years since the Paris car crash, the one that violently cut the thread of the life of a woman who was influential long before the term was coined and whose spirit continues to move and inspire. One might observe that it is also the only thing that has remained the same and unchanged for nearly three decades, a period in the course of which the world has come tumbling down many times and revised its sacred and sacredness many more times.

Even the once unrecognised and rather overlooked area of north-east England where the famous Spencer family estate is located has in recent years emerged as a counterweight to cosmopolitan Cotswolds where the secular mother loses the child and the secular child loses the mother. It may be that the south-west of England has been the camp of the Beckams, the Camerons, Lily Allen, Hugh Grant, Kate Moss and their courtiers for years, but the emerging apogee for socialites, celebrities, blue bloods and aristocrats is undoubtedly Northamptonshire’s hitherto terra incognita, of which Althorp remains undoubtedly the landmark.

The last residence of the Princess

The story of the estate where Earl Spencer and until recently his third – now former – wife Karen Gordon still live and reside today begins in the early 16th century. The estate, which extends to about 2.5 square miles, was purchased for just £800 in 1508 by Sir John Spencer, a wealthy, shrewd and rather far-sighted cattle farmer who saw in a derelict piece of land a business opportunity he could not let slip through his fingers.

The life of the Spencer family grew generation by generation and it was around the end of the 17th century that the main building of the estate began to take its present form. Of course, the truth is that the 19 generations of Spencers from whose hands the Althorp estate has passed over the last five centuries have not usually used it as a permanent residence, but as a field for the display of their wealth, power and connections – their connections with the royal family, after all, have deep roots in time.

Even when Diana came into the world on July 1, 1961, her family had not settled into the pharaonic estate. Until 1975 they lived on the outskirts of Sandringham Palace, her father having been in the service of the royal family. But on her grandfather’s death Edward John Spencer inherited the title of Earl and with it Althorp. So Diana, along with her two older sisters and her younger brother and current heir to the dynasty, moved into the historic sprawling residence, but there was no room for their mother.

In 1969 their parents had been driven to a stormy separation, largely due to John Spencer’s abusive behaviour against his wife Frances. Despite the allegations against him, Spencer, with the assistance of his mother-in-law, claimed and obtained custody of their four children, who now had to get used to and learn a new reality. It is said, however, that Diana’s favourite spot in the Spencer mansion remained King William’s bedroom until shortly before the end of her life, was her very private ark. It will be recalled that it was at Althorp that the teenage Diana met the heir to the English throne and many years later her husband Charles for the first time in her life.

With a value now estimated in the tens of millions – the £800 of its purchase in 1508 alone is now equivalent to a million – the Spencer seat remains one of Britain’s most famous and photogenic estates. In fact, by order of Charles Spencer, part of the estate is now a museum, open to the public during the summer months. Of course, almost scandalous information about the works and days of the current owner of the estate has been scrupulously omitted from the museum narrative.

In 1992 the now 60-year-old writer and veteran journalist inherited the title of Count and the keys to the estate. His first move just days after his father’s death was to estranged his stepmother from Althorp, gathering, according to the most graphic descriptions, her belongings in black garbage bags and throwing them out of the estate. Spesner even accused Rayne Spencer for years of selling off family heirlooms – the family’s art collection is famous – piling up around 15 million euros in her bank account.

But that’s all in the past and all but forgotten. Diana’s brother is now dedicated to preserving the history of the Spencer clan as well as preserving their fortune, having decided to dispose of the mansion along with the staff (chef, butler, maids, waiters, waitresses, concierge, etc) for rent via the Elysian Estates platform, allowing any commoner to experience a rather extreme hospitality fantasy that would be the envy of the residents of Downton Abbey. The Spencer house can sleep up to 54 guests in its 38 bedrooms and can even cater for the exemplary service of 140 fellow guests should one decide to host a formal dinner. Rental rates are provided upon request on the platform.