Earl Spencer shares childhood photo of Princess Diana ahead of statue unveiling

Earl Spencer has shared a never-before-seen childhood photo of Princess Diana in the run-up to her statue unveiling.  

• Earl Spencer has posted a touching tribute to Princess Diana on what would have been her 60th birthday. 
• The Earl, also known as Charles Spencer, shared a childhood photo of his older sister at  the Queen's Sandringham Estate ahead of her statue unveiling at Kensington Palace later today. 
• In other royal news, Princess Diana's statue unveiling guest list reveals surprising link to Meghan Markle.
  

Earl Spencer has shared a touching tribute to his late sister Princess Diana in commemoration of her 60th birthday. 

Charles Spencer, who is expected to attend the statue unveiling for the princess this afternoon, posted a never-before-seen photograph of a young Diana standing on the grounds of Sandringham Estate. The black-and-white portrait, which was captured by the siblings' father, John Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer, shows the future royal staring directly at the camera with a slight smile on her face. 

Princess Diana was born in Park House at Sandringham Estate and spent much of her childhood at the Queen's plush Norfolk residence. 

As a member of the aristocratic Spencer family, she was no stranger to royal life growing up. She and her four siblings regularly played with the Windsors when they were children, while her parents had close ties to Queen Elizabeth II and the late Queen Mother. Her official family home, however, was Althorp House. The grandiose Northamptonshire property, which is today run by Earl Spencer, has been owned by the noble family for nearly 500 years and is now open to the public for viewing. 

Earl Spencer's photo of Princess Diana as a young girl was released just hours before the unveiling of her statue at Sunken Garden in Kensington Palace today (1 July.) The highly-anticipated event, which has been recently scaled down due to Covid-19 restrictions, will see Prince Harry and Prince William come face-to-face in public for the first time since Prince Philip's funeral in April. Princess Diana's statue unveiling guest list includes a small number of people close to the late royal, as well as those directly involved in the development of the privately-funded project.