Princes William and Harry have a whole host of well-known royal cousins who often seem to live their lives in the spotlight.
But one of their relatives, who was once dubbed 'Prince Harry lite', leads a "super private" life as a budding actor and will one day inherit Princess Diana's 13,500-acre family estate, despite having three older sisters. Louis Spencer, who is celebrating his 30th birthday today, is a maternal cousin of William and Harry and is the oldest son of Earl Spencer and his first wife, Victoria Lockwood. This makes him the nephew of the late Princess Diana and her sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Baroness Jane Fellowes. And he has often been called the "poster boy for primogeniture".
Louis Spencer with his mum Victoria Aitken and sister Lady Eliza Spencer at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding in 2018 (Getty Images)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.
The 27-year-old has been described as 'super private' as well as 'decent and kind' and was once called one of the world's most eligible bachelors. A friend of Louis' told the Telegraph: "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.
Louis with his three sisters and father Earl Spencer (Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)"You’d like him. He’s very low-key and genuine, decent and kind – and tall." His status as the eldest son of Earl Spencer will see him one day inherit the Grade I-listed stately home of Althorp House in Northamptonshire and the earldom.
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And it's believed he has already started getting ready to take over and has been to a number of trustees' meetings. Measuring 100,000 sq ft, Althorp House boasts 90 rooms and a portrait gallery. Following Diana's death in 1997 she was buried on a small island on the wider estate in the middle of the ornamental Round Oval lake.
Although the monarchy has now changed to put sons and daughters on an equal footing in terms of ascending to the throne, British primogeniture law has not been changed for peers such as dukes and earls. This means Louis will inherit Althorp rather than his oldest sister Kitty, who married 63-year-old businessman Michael Lewis in a grand ceremony in Italy in 2022, where Louis walked her down the aisle.
In a previous interview, Kitty, 33, said: "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." Meanwhile, her father Earl Spencer suggested it would go against the tradition of Althorp House to overlook his son. He said 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.
"I also get the strengths of it having worked to date. It is still intact. If you go around the chateaux of the Loire or whatever, they are empty. Everything gets split equally through the generations and you end up with a beautiful building with one nice tapestry in it. The whole idea of primogeniture was to keep it together."
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