The Travelling Diana Exhibition from Althorp

[Princess Haya]

Diana shrine to close as interest wanes
By Chris Millar, Evening Standard
9 July 2004
The Princess Diana museum at her childhood home of Althorp is to close because of falling ticket sales.

Her brother Earl Spencer has decided to shut the exhibition featuring some of her clothes, school reports and letters.

The museum in the grounds of the Spencers' Northamptonshire estate was set up after the Princess's death in 1997 and drew 150,000 visitors paying £10.50 each in its first year and 140,000 in 2000. Last year 80,000 tickets were sold.

Earl Spencer's decision is said to have been finalised when he visited the Diana memorial fountain, which was opened this week in Hyde Park, after concluding that it would replace the museum as a focus for his sister's life. One source said Earl Spencer "has not taken the decision lightly". The source added: "But he realises things have moved on. There is not the level of interest there once was. It was never meant to be permanent." A final closure date has not yet been set.

Princes Harry and William have agreed with the decision and will receive the bulk of the items.

 

[Yennie]

too bad, I wanted to go there

 

[Duchess Sophie]

It will not close, it is reported.

 

[Yennie]

It will not close, it is reported.

No? They changed their mind already??

 

[wymanda]

Earl Spencer could stand on a stack of bibles and I still wouldn't believe what he said!!!

 

[Duchess Sophie]

Originally posted by wymanda@Jul 12th, 2004 - 9:56 am
Earl Spencer could stand on a stack of bibles and I still wouldn't believe what he said!!!

You have to believe him this time.

It is stated on the official website of Althorp that it will remain OPEN

YES !!!

 

[Lady Jean]

Maybe the Earl is saying this (making this threat) to drum up attendance for this year.

 

[gfg02]

Brother visits Princess Diana exhibit

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20070319/ap_tr_ge/travel_brief_princess_diana_exhibit_1

 

[Skydragon]

Is Earl Spencer cashing in on his own guilt again?

This is the time of year when you hear the call, as regular and persistent as the cuckoo.


It is the sound of Earl Spencer, attracting visitors to Althorp House where his sister, Diana, lies, her grave concealed in the centre of a lake across which visitors can peer for £12.50 a head. Hurry folks! Book your tickets for what is billed as "Diana: A Celebration". The house and Diana museum are open from July 2 to September 2. Lord Spencer, 42, is good at putting Althorp in the news.

Is Earl Spencer cashing in on his own guilt again? | the Daily Mail

 

[sassie]

This is the time of year when you hear the call, as regular and persistent as the cuckoo.

I love that!

 

[ghost_night554]

Random question but since this thread includes the Althrop Museum I wanted to ask are Diana's dresses still there? I know in the past they've taken a few pieces on mini road tours to display them so I was wondering if anyone knows where they are now. Sorry I didn't know where else to post this.

 

[Monika_]

Random question but since this thread includes the Althrop Museum I wanted to ask are Diana's dresses still there? I know in the past they've taken a few pieces on mini road tours to display them so I was wondering if anyone knows where they are now. Sorry I didn't know where else to post this.

They take them on tours when Althorp is not open to the public. You can check the website for specifics, but I believe it's open July, August and September. I highly recommend it!!

Althorp House, Northampton - Hospitality, Corporate Events, Tourist Attractions

 

[Catherine Helvin]

Ten years ago on Friday, I went to the Althorp Museum and enjoyed it, especially seeing Diana's beautiful wedding dress.

I'll never understand why Earl Spencer wouldn't allow his sister to stay at Althorp when she was alive but has allowed her to be buried there. What a hypocrite!

 

[Grace Angel]

Well, he was afraid of the press following Diana there and disturbing his peace and quiet. She did resent him for not giving her a house he had promised her there. One can see his point about the press, I have to admit. But he could have done it had he wanted to. Diana certainly had few enough places to escape the press.

 

[Catherine Helvin]

What's the difference? People come to Althorp every summer to visit now that Diana's dead.

 

[TheTruth]

Of course but alive she was a "moving target" and the hard task to assure her safety would have been relegated to him. Now that she's dead, as terrible as it is, the security is far easier to provide since it's not a person but a grave to watch.

 

[iowabelle]

Maybe part of the truth is that Earl Spencer thought he and Diana might fall out again, and it is difficult to have a feuding neighbor right there on your doorstep. Security concerns might have given him an easy out.

 

[iowabelle]

Earl Spencer was on The Today Show, the website of which is at www.today.msnbc.msn.com. Go down to the middle of the page, which says "More from Today" and click on Travelling exhibit honors Princess Diana.

There's video and Matt Lauer interviewed the Earl briefly. They did discuss Diana's "legacy". The Earl has taken some of the objets from his museum and is trotting them around America. Among them the beautiful black, cleavage-baring dress she wore on her last birthday; a pedal car from their childhood; her pink ballet slippers. He also brought some family films which I have never seen, including footage of the family leaving Diana's christening and some charming film of Frances rolling around on the ground in slacks and playing with her children,including dumping one daughter on her head (not sure who that was!).

The National Constitution Center (don't know which city this is located in) will host the international traveling exhibition, Diana: A Celebration from October 2 through December 31, 2009.

I am always struck by Matt and Meredith's informality when dealing with the Royal Family and aristocrats. Maybe NBC people think they have an "in" with the Earl since they were his former employers.

 

[Lady Ann]

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/around-town/events/Diana-Exhibit-Comes-to-Philly-62639467.html Oh Iam so excited getting my tickets for Oct 12th....

 

[suztav]

I saw the exhibit this evening. Very interesting, although I must admit that I was greatly disappointed in her wedding dress -- just alot of fabric. My apologies to those who disagree -- but, it definitely lacked the artistry of Grace Kelly's wedding dress. Her early evening wear was rather "frumpy" ... her later evening wear was spectacular! Her wedding dress is displayed with the wedding tiara and earrings. There are other fabulous pieces of jewelry from the Spencer family. It's definitey worth seeing. The final room in the exhibit plays a real from her funeral to the music of Elton John signing "Candle in the Wind" ... not a dry eye in the room.

 

[Grace Angel]

It's interesting about the family films you had never seen,Iowabelle. Do you think these have been seen publicly before or not? Perhaps not, as Earl Spencer did have quite a bit of films and photos of his children, however, it seems everything associated with Diana has been seen publicly at one time or the other.

 

[iowabelle]

I think, although Spencer didn't say so, that these films had been shown at his stable block museum ... and possibly in Japan and at other U.S. exhibitions.

I have a pretty good memory for Diana images so I'm pretty confident I haven't seen them on TV or in books before. The only Diana exhibit I've been to was the traveling dresses.

 

[sirhon11234]

The footage was played at the end of the concert. Well on the dvd of the concert.

 

[EmpressRouge]

I just went to "Diana: A Celebration" at the Constitution Center in Philadelphia. Nice overall, but somewhat lacking (I didn't learn anything new), especially for the steep admission ($23). It only seemed like a big exhibition because the line was moving slowly and it took almost an hour to go through the whole thing.

They didn't have any of Diana's most famous evening dresses on display (like the John Travolta one, the Elvis one, the white beaded Dior w/ the bolero), and I would have liked to have learned more about the Spencer women, especially her grandmother, Cynthia. But I guess that's why the Earl's book "The Spencers" is for sale at the end of the tour for a nice $53 .

Question: The wedding dress that travels with the exhibit, is that a replica? I remember reading that the replica is traveling and the original is kept somewhere safe from all that harsh lighting. Also, the lace on the dress didn't look very antique. I would have to say the dress on display looked better than it did on Diana on her wedding day. The one on display was not as wrinkled (didn't have to ride in a carriage) and the mannequin filled it out (Diana lost a lot of weight after her last fitting, so the dress ended up being big).

 

[Lady Ann]

I have just returned from the Diana Exhibit in Philly, there were pros and cons to this exhibit. I thought there would be more personal jewls of Diana's and well just more. The portion that I found well done was that it was about Diana not Willaim not Harry not Charles but her life they way it should have been done. The other thing I found off was that the Earl Spencer was had a gift shope were you can buy Diana nic nacks for very high prices and that he was selling his books there for 54.oo dollars a peice. You may buy them at Barns and Nobles for 20 lol.....

 

[ada]

Does anyone know, are the profits from this show going to charity?

 

[Skydragon]

Probably the Charles Spencer charity.

 

[Wisteria]

As to the jewellery I think that Diana mainly wore jewels lent to her by the Queen and the Queen mother. The Spencer tiara would go back to the Spencer family, and then her engagement ring was inherited by William I think.
I read somewhere that the beautiful pearls she was wearing in one of her last official photographs were borrowed, with the understanding that she could later on buy them if she wanted to, so it doesn´t surprise me there were few jewels on show.

 

[iowabelle]

Was the wedding tiara on display? Nobody's said. All I know is that awkward hybrid tiara was going to be there.

 

[EmpressRouge]

The Spencer tiara was displayed with the veil and wedding dress. However, I'm not sure whether it's a replica and it's high on the mannequin's head, so you can't see it close up. But it does look authentic (i.e. made of diamonds and not of rhinestone) and if it is a replica, it is a very accurate.