Charles, 9th Earl Spencer’s ancestral home, Althorp House, has a total of 93 rooms across 100,000 square feet of space, so it’s hardly surprising that cleaning is a mammoth task.
Not only does he need to consider keeping all of the carpets clean for visitors when the home is open to the public between July and August, but he also needs to consider the impressive lighting that illuminates the historic property.
One of the areas that is well-documented on his social media is the Saloon, which makes for a very grand hallway thanks to its large wooden staircase, walls filled with paintings, and multiple chandeliers suspended from the ceiling.
The latter left me holding my breath as I watched Charles’ latest video, shared on his Instagram Stories. It showed that one chandelier was hanging just inches off the floor in the background, while staff slowly lowered the second giant crystal feature – swinging with the momentum – into the stairwell, ready to be cleaned.
HELLO!’s Homes Editor, Rachel Avery, shares her insight into cleaning at stately homes. “This way of cleaning a chandelier may seem rather tense and dramatic (probably thanks to that iconic Only Fools and Horses scene when the process didn’t go so well) but it is in fact common practice in royal and stately homes.
“The Earl will have a dedicated cleaning team at Althorp, but it’s likely that chandelier cleaning would be carried out by hired professionals as specialised equipment is required,” she said.
Althorp House’s royal history
© Alamy Stock PhotoAlthorp House was previously owned by Charles’ father, Earl John Spencer, and it is where Charles spent part of his childhood with his sisters, Sarah, Jane, and Diana.
The Northamptonshire country house was even where Princess Diana first met King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, when he was visiting her sister, Sarah.
© David GoddardAfter his father, John, died, Charles inherited the 90-room stately home, set on 550 acres of land. He made sure to keep his family close to his heart, erecting a special temple dedicated to the late Princess, who is buried at the Oval Lake.
Spencer family residents
© Mathieu PolakCharles has shared the property with his three wives over the years. The White Ship author and Victoria Lockwood welcomed four children: Lady Kitty, twins Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia, and Louis, Viscount Althorp, before they split.
He then married Caroline Freud, with whom he had two children: Edmund and Lara. His third wife, Karen Gordon, lived at Althorp with their daughter Charlotte, but she moved out following their split in 2024.
© TOPSTAR-WJ IMAGES/BACKGRIDNow, Charles is in a new relationship with his Rabbit Hole Detectives cohost, Cat Jarman, who is 18 years his junior. Confirming their romance, the Earl said to The Mail on Sunday: “I’m too old for hearts and flowers stuff, but the best way to describe it is that with Cat, I can be myself. She knows who I am. Who I really am. I don’t have to pretend to be something I am not. And she brings out the best in me.”
Cat is thought to have moved in following updates about their shared puppies.
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