Diana Wanted to Become America's First Lady: Friendly w/Politcially Connected Billionaire

ABC News ^ | 9/12.06 | Kate Snow

[razorback-bert]

Althorp has been home to the Spencer family for nearly 500 years. Since the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, Althorp has become a house known across the world, but before that event Althorp was also known to connoisseurs on account of the magnificence of the artefacts and the beauty of the setting. Its house and grounds are open each year as well as an exceptional exhibition celebrating the life of the late Princess. All profits from these openings are given to charity.

[Song of the South]

Over the years, Country Life, an English weekly magazine [that has become prohibitively expensive], has had several exquisite articles about Althorp. It would be worth while to try to find a back issue just to see the beautiful photography. Country Life is the best magazine of its kind in the world.

Many thanks gopwinsin04 for the pretty pictures.

 

SoS

[Lauren BaRecall]

"She was not going to marry Dodi Al Fayed, because there was someone else in her life. She had a soul mate, and she'd fallen in love with someone else," he told Snow.

Poor Dodi Al Fayed. I too had someone else in my life.

[ladyinred]

I miss her as well, and how I wish she had lived and could have been happy. Diana has had a terrible smear campaign against her by the Palace, not the Queen, so that Charles would be free to marry Camilla. She was a lovely yet sad young lady, who was used terribly by Charles, who must feel some guilt now. RIP Diana.

[ladyinred]

The preggers thing has been debunked by everyone close to her. Please, that was the fantasy of Dodies dad. She would not have married that man.

[Lauren BaRecall]

Diana may have looked like this in a Versace burka...

...but we can only speculate....

[Wycowboy]

Neither is a great beauty to my eye, I see many prettier at the grocery store

Please, tell me where you shop!!

[Toby06]

While few have the grace, etc. of Diana, I think a good 40%+ of the general population is more pretty.

[Froufrou]

Good to know. I never believed it in the first place. But with the MSM it's hard to tell truth from fiction. The Diana I like to remember is the time she and Fergie were goosing everyone at the races with their bumbershoots.

[linda_22003]

And just as a meaningless PS, while the name looks like "Al-Thorp", the pronunciation is actually "Ol-trup".

[katieanna]

Thank you Friend for the pictures. They are beautiful indeed.

[sandbar]

>>>LOL. I was just kidding. I never actually wanted to be either. Well, aside from becoming Mrs. Jon Baker. Or maybe Mrs. Parker Stevenson, with a fling with Shawn Cassidy on the side.>>>

I would have settled quite nicely for Ms. Rick Springfield. ;o)

[gopwinsin04]

The stable quarters at Althrop!

[Song of the South]

And just as a meaningless PS, while the name looks like "Al-Thorp", the pronunciation is actually "Ol-trup".

... not a meaningless PS, at all!

One of the things that has always fascinated me about the Brits is their quirky pronunciation of names, e.g. Cholmondeley [Chumley]; Taliaferro [Toliver]; Laughlin [Loffland]; and countless others.

 

SoS

[Song of the South]

Wonderful pictures. Thank you.

IIRC, the temple looking structure on the island was bought from another site [unrelated to Althorp] and moved to the little island in the lake at Althorp.

 

SoS

[linda_22003]

Don't forget Featherstonehaugh, which comes out as "Fanshawe". Or Auchinleck, which comes out "Affleck". Maybe Ben is Scottish?

[Song of the South]

How could I forget ... especially Featherstonehaugh [Fanshawe]! Such fun names!

[katieanna]

Check this out. Apparently the Spencer family occupied another home in St. James Court. Sorry I don't know how to post pics, so here's the link:
http://www.spencerhouse.co.uk/

[Song of the South]

In Great Britain they have forms of "ownership" that are strange to us. One can have a leasehold for a set period of years without owning the property itself. Only if it is a freehold does one acquire ownership of the structure[s] and the land under it/them. I have seen leaseholds advertised for 99 years and other really long periods of time that make having a leasehold entirely different from our concept of a lease --- which is only slightly more than a month-to-month renter.

Thanks for the link. I knew of Spencer House and what a fabulous place it was. It would, indeed, take Rothschild wealth to do such a restoration. These old houses --- call them what you will --- will eat up the fortunes and break the financial backs of many families.

 

SoS

[Dante3]

That hasn't prevented her brother from being a sleazy cad.