A special guest arrives at Lady Diana’s villa

Last year Charles, 9th Earl Spencer, and his wife Karen, Countess Spencer, they gave birth to Spencer 1508a web series documenting their life at Althorp Housethe family estate where the Princess Diana she lived as a teenager and was buried after her death in 1997. In recent months, they have been trying to revive the estate’s walled garden, which was once a source of fruit and vegetables for the kitchen, as well as flowers to decorate the house. In the last episode Spencer 1508 welcomed John Richardson, caretaker of the estate for over 40 years, to help Karen plan the renovations to the garden.

On InstagramCharles shared a picture of Richardson and highlighted how long his was relationship with family: “He started here with my grandfather in 1963, the year before I was born,” she said, adding that Richardson has “fascinating memories of what the Walled Garden of Althorp in the 1960s and before, and also on how, hopefully, that will be again.”

In the video, Richardson recalls the day Charles was brought home from the hospital in 1964 and says that his grandfather, Albert, 7th Earl Spencer, was particularly fond of setting up oak gates and posts. He added to remember that Winston Churchilla distant cousin of the Spencers, loved to go to the walled gardens when visiting Althorp.

Karen, wife of Charles of 11 years, has told in some episodes of the process of recovery of the old gardenwhich probably remained fallow after the Second World War, when stately homes across the country abandoned their landscaping due to high maintenance costs. In a November video, the author pointed out that important parts of the old garden remained intact: “The foundations, many of the large infrastructures are intact and in shape,” she said, “the walls, the gates, the garden house it is still there for us, ready to rebuild».

When Richardson visited the garden, he said he spent a lot of time trying to keep the brick walls of the garden solid, clearing them of ivy and other plants. But he added in tears who felt he hadn’t done enough: «I wish I could go back in timeknowing what I know now,” he said.

Karen thanked him for his work: “It was really touching to see how much he cared,” she said later. “It reminds you of generations of people who have dedicated their lives to maintaining this house and this park.”