King Charles has beaten Earl Charles Spencer in the battle of their stately homes amid a raft of claims levelled against the royals in the controversial book penned by Princess Diana's brother. Swan Song: Diana, My Sister was published on Tuesday, but even before it hit the shelves the Palace issued a rare and scathing rebuttal to an allegation the King told Earl Spencer his sister would be forgotten soon enough and sounded "giddily elated" when he spoke to the aristocrat after her death.
Royal fans rally to the monarch's defence
Royal fans rallied to the monarch's defence, including former tabloid editor Piers Morgan, who suggested the Royal Family would be "spitting blood" over the memoir. It appears the public are voting with their feet when it comes to which stately home they prefer out of the King Charles and Queen Camilla's country retreat, Highgrove House, and Earl Spencer's family seat of over 500 years, Althorp House.
In the tourism stakes, Highgrove tops Northamptonshire's Althorp, with King Charles's Gloucestershire mansion rated 4.7 compared to the Spencer pile's 4.3 on the online travel platform, TripAdvisor.
Visitor reviews on Althorp and Highgrove
Visitors to Althorp praise its beauty, "pretty grounds", "friendly staff" and "magnificent" paintings, but others complain there is not much detail about Diana on display. One reviewer wrote: "If you are visiting the house and grounds to get a little closer to the Princess, I would not recommend it".
They urged Althorp to dedicate part of the house to Diana, while acknowledging the owners would probably not want it to become a permanent reminder of her tragic death in a car accident in Paris in 1997. The reviewer added: "She is, after all, the main reason a lot of people would want to visit".
Highgrove gardens praised
In comparison, Highgrove, where members of the public can only visit the gardens, is hailed on the same platform as "wonderfully varied" and "beautiful". Visitors hailed the tour of the gardens, with one reviewer describing a "truly wonderful" visit.
One green-fingered US reviewer did, however, note they would have preferred more horticultural insights and less about King Charles's development of the gardens. They added: "That said, Highgrove is a beautiful and very special garden, and we are extremely glad we visited. For serious gardeners in particular, it is well worth seeing — just be prepared to leave wishing you’d had a little more time to stop and study everything".
Althorp House opens annually in July and August. Guided tours of Highgrove's gardens can be booked in advance. They typically open to the public between April and October.
