Princess Diana‘s brother Earl Charles Spencer has shared an evocative image of her final resting place on the Althorp Estate.

Taken in the misty, early morning light, the photograph posted on Instagram shows the private island situated in the centre of Althorp’s Oval Lake where Diana was buried after her untimely death in 1997.

The trees planted on the island are reflected in the clear, calm water which surrounds it.

Charles, whose emotional memoir A Very Private School was published in March 2024, captioned the photo: ‘Misty start to the day, @althorphouse’.

The image has amassed almost 10,000 likes in two days and has provoked an outpouring of emotion in the comments section, with one person writing: ‘Rest gently beautiful soul, you’re at peace now’.

Earl Charles Spencer posted this photo of the private island where Princess Diana is buried with the caption ‘Misty start to the day, @althorphouse’

Princess Diana (pictured) was buried on the private island in the middle of Oval Lake, which forms part of Althorp Estate, after her death at the age of 36

Earl Charles Spencer (pictured) still lives on Althorp Estate in Northampton where the Spencer children grew up

At 13,000 acres, Althorp Estate was the childhood home of Diana and Charles, 60, and their siblings Lady Jane Fellowes, 67, and Lady Sarah McCorquodale, 69 – and it remains Charles’s home today.

While Diana’s gravesite cannot be reached by members of the public, Althorp is home to a memorial known as the ‘temple’ that can be visited by those who do not belong to the family.

Opened in July 1998, the memorial at the 500-year-old ancestral estate is visited by approximately 150,000 people a year.

In August 2023, it was reported that 36 oak trees had been planted on the path leading to the lake, as well as hundreds of white water lilies and roses.

The number of trees are said to represent each year of Diana’s life before it was cut short in a car accident in Paris on August 31, 1997.

In his 1998 book ‘Althorp’, Charles discussed the decision to bury Diana on the island in Oval Lake – when many other family members had been laid to rest at St Mary the Virgin church in Great Brington.

Charles reflected: ‘We all agreed that, with its beauty and tranquility, this was the place for Diana to be.’

In an interview with People magazine, Earl Spencer said he wanted his nephews Prince William and Prince Harry to have a private place to visit their late mother.

Charles’s Instagram post, which has amassed almost 10,000 likes in two days, provoked an outpouring of emotion in the comments section

He added: ‘It is, luckily, very tranquil here and they can come and go as they wish whenever they want. And that’s very lovely for me to know that.’

Unlike a church, Earl Spencer said the water of the Oval Lake would ‘act as a buffer against the interventions of the insane and ghoulish with the thick mud presenting a further line of defence’.

The public memorial – the Grecian-inspired monument dubbed ‘the Temple’ – was purchased by the fifth Earl Spencer in the 1880s and features Diana’s name, silhouette and a quote from the Princess.

One tablet reads: ‘Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life, a kind of destiny, whoever is in distress can call on me. I will come running wherever they are.’

Another tablet quotes Earl Spencer’s 1997 eulogy: ‘We give thanks for the life of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister, the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana, whose beauty both internal and external will never extinguish from our minds.’

In 2017, Earl Spencer revealed that several members of the public have made attempts to access Diana’s grave.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he explained: ‘We’ve had four attempted break-ins towards her body in the last 20 years and I’m very glad we’ve seen all of them off.

‘There are some odd people out there and keeping her right here is the safest place.’

Charles revealed he was left tearful after receiving an ‘astonishingly beautiful’ gift (pictured) when celebrating his 60th birthday in May

The canoe was handmade by Charles’s friend’s husband over many months, who explained: ‘I just thought it’d be useful, when you visit your sister’

Taking to Instagram and X, formerly Twitter, on his birthday on May 20, Charles explained that he ‘cried’ when he saw the canoe

On his 60th birthday on May 20, Charles revealed that he became tearful after a friend gifted him an ‘astonishingly beautiful’ handmade canoe.

The friend’s husband who had built canoe had explained: ‘I just thought it’d be useful, when you visit your sister.’

On the same day, Charles shared a selection of images of the touching gift, positioned in front of the Oval Lake at Althorp.

He captioned the photos: ‘Today I turn 60. I had 30 friends and family to stay over the weekend…

‘I was brought down to the lake at Althorp by a friend, on Saturday. Her husband handmade this astonishingly beautiful canoe for me, as a surprise, over many months. I cried on seeing it. It’s almost too exquisite to paddle.

‘The husband said: “I just thought it’d be useful, when you visit your sister”. Such an overwhelmingly beautiful thought.’

He also shared the story and photos to X, formerly Twitter, writing: ‘Probably the most astonishingly beautiful gift I’ve ever received: I found this canoe, handmade by a friend over many months, by the lake at ⁦@AlthorpHouse

⁩’“Something for you to visit your sister in”, he said. Out of words, I could only cry at the beauty of that thought.’

Fans were delighted by the gift, with one person writing in the comment section on Instagram: ‘What a beautiful and thoughtful gift! I had tears in my eyes when I read your message!

Fans were delighted by the gift, with one person writing in the comment section on Instagram: ‘What a beautiful and thoughtful gift! I had tears in my eyes when I read your message!

Another said: ‘Happy 60th birthday, how beautiful is that canoe, and how lovely for you to visit your (and our) Princess Diana in it. What thoughtful clever friends you have. P.S I got emotional just reading your post.’

A third added: ‘Oh my lord, what an incredibly thoughtful friend, one of the most beautiful gestures I’ve heard of. You must be a great friend too for someone to make a gift like that for you.’