One day Prince William is be set to inherit the crown and all the trappings that go alongside it but there is one thing that neither he nor his brother Prince Harry will ever inherit.

That is Princess Diana’s childhood home – and the site of her final resting place. The Althorp Estate, the seat of the Spencer family since 1508, will instead pass to their cousin Louis, the son of the current Earl Spencer – Diana’s brother, Charles. Louis – the 29-year-old Viscount Althorp – will inherit the estate despite having three older sisters, because of the system of primogeniture that exists in the aristocracy which means that titles are passed down to the oldest boy, not the firstborn child.

The 13,500-acre estate was where Diana spent her childhood, and where she was laid to rest after her untimely death in 1997. It opens to visitors each summertime. Louis – an actor – is reported to keep a relatively low profile, but that didn’t stop Tatler from crowning him as one of their “top eligible bachelors” back in 2019.

Born Louis Frederick John Spencer on March 14, 1994, the maternal cousin of William and Harry is the child of Earl Spencer and his first wife, Victoria Lockwood. This makes him the nephew of the late Diana and her sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Baroness Jane Fellowes. And he has often been called the “poster boy for primogeniture”. Although Louis was born in London, he was raised in Cape Town, South Africa, after his parent’s marriage broke down, where he reportedly attended one of the priciest private schools the city has to offer – Diocesan College.

After school, and returning to the UK he studied at the University of Edinburgh, before going to drama school in Chiswick, London. He is reportedly signed to the Tavistock Wood talent agency and a source speaking to The Telegraph said of the young man: “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. He’s very low-key and genuine, decent and kind – and tall.”

His oldest sister Kitty Spencer, a model and socialite, has previously said about her little brother inheriting the estate over her: “Primogeniture can be a tricky topic, because as times are changing, attitudes are as well. We’ve grown up understanding that it’s Louis to inherit, and Louis will do an incredible job.” Their father Charles Spencer noted in 2015, “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.”

Louis reportedly already attends Trustee meetings for the vast and historical estate he will one day inherit, but primogeniture doesn’t hold such a grip on the aristocracy as it once did. The Succession to the Crown Act 2013, championed by the late Queen, ensures that gender is no longer a factor in the line of succession for any royal children born.

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