Princess Diana's family estate of Althorp House catches fire in UK heatwave

Princess Diana's childhood home, Althorp House, was damaged on Tuesday after catching fire in the UK's record-breaking heatwave. 

• Princess Diana's childhood residence of Althorp House was struck by disaster yesterday after a fire broke out in one of its crop fields. 
• The Princess of Wales's brother, Charles Spencer, took to Twitter to share the worrying news with royal fans. 
• In other royal news, Prince Harry showed 'emotional shift' as he spoke about Princess Diana at the UN.
  

Princess Diana's beloved childhood home was struck by disaster on Tuesday, after the UK's scorchingly hot temperatures caused one of its fields to catch fire. 

Emergency services were called to Althorp House shortly after noon yesterday to extinguish the blaze, which broke out as temperatures reached record-breaking heights of 40C in the county of Northamptonshire. 

Charles Spencer, Diana's younger brother and current owner of the Grade I listed property, took to Twitter to share the upsetting news. 

"One of our fields on fire today - the hottest day on record," the Earl wrote alongside a photo of the burning scene. "All will be under control very soon." 

The incident, which occurred shortly after the Queen broke tradition for her Buckingham Palace guards in light of the sweltering conditions, saw firefighters from four different stations rush to the property to tackle the flames. Roads in the surrounding area were also closed, to keep the public safe and to allow emergency services to access the location as quickly as possible. 

Charles' update prompted an outpouring of concerned messages from his supporters, many of whom were desperate for confirmation that the fire had been safely put out. The 58-year-old reassured one worried fan that the fire had been 'contained', adding that two crop fields had been destroyed but no human beings or animals had been harmed. He posted a far more uplifting photo of Althorp House hours later, in celebration of the long-overdue rainfall that soaked the region last night. 

Charles Spencer isn't the only British aristocrat enjoying the cooler weather. Charles and Camilla beamed with joy in Cornwall on Tuesday as thunderstorms broke out in the southern region, bringing a merciful end to the blistering heat of the past 48 hours. 

The royal couple had been braving the hot conditions for their three-day-long annual visit to the seaside county, staying cool with parasols and umbrellas while they mingled with locals and tourists under the blistering sunlight. Like many of us though, they appeared more than relieved to see the rain come, smiling widely as the first droplets fell during a visit to a market in Launceston.