Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, celebrates his 31st birthday today. Raised in South Africa and largely kept out of the public eye, he is the fourth child of Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, and his first wife, Victoria Lockwood. This makes him the nephew of Princess Diana and the first cousin of Prince William and Prince Harry. He has three sisters – Lady Kitty, and twins Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia – as well as half-siblings from his parents’ other marriages. Unlike his sisters, who frequently grace magazine covers, Louis prefers to maintain a low profile, steering clear of social media and high-profile events. In 2019, Tatler named him one of Britain’s most eligible bachelors, describing him as ‘tall, debonair and very handsome’ but also ‘super private’. His resemblance to Prince Harry even earned him the nickname ‘Harry Lite’. Born on March 14, 1994 at St Mary’s Hospital in London, Louis is the heir to the 13,000-acre Althorp estate in Northamptonshire, the ancestral home of the Spencer family. In 1995, to escape intense media scrutiny, his family relocated to Constantia, one of Cape Town’s most exclusive suburbs. He attended Diocesan College, a prestigious private school founded in 1849 on British educational principles, where the fees cost up to £13,955 a year. Louis returned to the UK to enroll at the University of Edinburgh, before studying acting at the ArtsEd drama school in Chiswick, where he graduated as the valedictorian in September 2022. Now performing under the stage name Louis John Lyons, he is represented by Tavistock Wood talent agency, which also manages Dominic West and Lily James. Louis shares a close relationship with his siblings. He walked his eldest sister, Kitty, down the aisle at her lavish Italian wedding – stepping in for their father, who controversially did not attend. Growing up in South Africa, they enjoyed a relatively normal childhood with their mother, following their parents’ divorce in 1997. They often went on camping trips to the Cederberg mountains, where they embraced the natural surroundings, completely off-grid and without electricity. With their father back at the family’s ancestral home, Althorp, the siblings also spent many visits there. Your browser does not support iframes. The magnificent Grade I listed Georgian mansion has been in the Spencer family for over 500 years. With 90 rooms, an extensive art collection, and 28 listed buildings within its grounds, the estate is valued at over £100million. It was Princess Diana’s childhood home and remains her final resting place, with her grave located on a secluded island on the Round Oval Lake. For much of his childhood, Louis was shielded from media attention, only making occasional public appearances alongside his father. His first major appearance came in 2011 when he attended the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton at age 17 – though his glamorous sisters stole much of the attention. In 2015, he unexpectedly appeared on Nicki Minaj’s Instagram, with the rapper posting an image of them alongside the playful caption: ‘Check out our wedding photo’. But it was at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018 that Louis truly caught public attention. Dressed in a morning suit, he became a sudden heartthrob, receiving numerous marriage proposals from social media admirers. As the eldest son, Louis is set to inherit the Spencer title and the Althorp estate under the traditional primogeniture system, which favours male heirs regardless of birth order. His sister, Kitty, previously acknowledged the tradition in an interview with Town & Country, saying: ‘Primogeniture can be a tricky topic because, as times are changing, so are attitudes. ‘We’ve grown up understanding that it’s Louis who will inherit, and Louis will do an incredible job.’ With years of preparation already under way – attending trustee meetings and learning about the estate’s management – Louis is poised to take on his future role as the 10th Earl Spencer. While he may keep a low profile, his legacy as heir to one of Britain’s most historic estates is firmly set.