In a recent interview, the Earl opened up about what he feels she brought to the royal family and how it changed as a result of her influence.
Speaking to model Twiggy on an episode of her Tea With Twiggy podcast, the father-of-seven praised his sister’s sense of humour.
Charles said: “She had such a brilliant sense of humour, that was the thing. The royal family before Diana were doing a solid job with responsibility and duty but I remember once going with Diana to a concert for one of her charities.
“It was a classical concert… It was a lovely event and then afterwards, she went on stage and talked to the orchestra and they loved her. There must have been 80 of them clustered around, it was rather like children meeting Father Christmas… She just had a genius for people, I think.”
Twiggy reflected on her own brief meeting with Diana, saying: “We chatted for about ten or 15 minutes, she was so lovely.”
Charles sweetly added: “When Diana and I were growing up, there was always something about Twiggy in the news, so she would have been genuinely thrilled to have met you”.
Charles is custodian of his family’s ancestral home, Althorp House, where he grew up with his sisters, including Princess Diana.
The Earl also spoke on the podcast about an incredible coincidence about the estate, when he shared that Althorp is open to the public between 1 July and 31 August every year.
That means that it opens on the anniversary of Diana’s birthday and closes on the anniversary of her death – although that was never the intention.
Charles said: “With these big houses and their contents, you do an agreement with the government as to how many days to be open. “It’s a strange coincidence actually but we agreed to be open for July and August, so we open on the first of July, which is Diana’s birthday, and we close on 31 August, which is the day she died.”
“Is that a coincidence?” Twiggy asked, to which the author and historian responded: “Total coincidence, that was agreed five years before she passed away, so strange.”
The property’s rich 500-year history is a huge pull for visitors far and wide. And whilst members of the public are not permitted to take photographs inside of the house itself, they can tour many of its beautiful rooms.
The late Princess Diana moved into the property along with her family when she was 14 years old. Aged 18, Diana moved to Earl’s Court in West London where her mother had bought her a flat.
