The day Madonna asked if she could get married at my house! Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, opens up on a ‘surreal’ phone call from the star
He was conspicuous by his absence at the weddings of his daughters Lady Kitty and Lady Amelia Spencer, but Earl Spencer could have hosted the Queen of Pop’s nuptials.
Princess Diana’s brother has revealed that Madonna asked him if she could exchange vows with film director Guy Ritchie at his Northamptonshire seat, Althorp.
‘I was cooking at home one day and the phone went and this voice said, “Hello, it’s Madonna here”, and I thought, “Well, who on earth is this? It’s too ridiculous”.
‘And then I realised it was, and she said she wanted to get married.’
Guy Ritchie and Madonna pictured together in 2000 – the year they married
Historian and Ninth Earl, Charles Spencer, outside his family seat Althorp House in Northamptonshire
Earl Spencer revealed Madonna’s surprising request on The Rabbithole Detectives Podcast, pictured
The podcast features the Reverend Richard Coles, author and archeologist Dr Cat Jarman and Earl Spencer
Historian Charles Spencer adds on The Rabbit Hole Detectives podcast: ‘We had this rather surreal conversation where I was just thinking, “This is beyond belief”.
Then at the end she said, “And how are you doing?” And I said, “I’m fine, thanks, how about you?”
And she said, “Well, I’d recommend you don’t give birth and bring out an album in the same month”. I have stuck by it religiously.’
He adds: ‘She then didn’t have the wedding with me, but at least we had that moment.’
The American pop superstar ended up getting married to Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Ritchie, 54, in a £1.5million wedding at Skibo Castle, in the Highlands of Scotland, in 2000. The couple were divorced in 2008.
In retrospect, Earl Spencer might be relieved that this particular celebrity wedding passed him by.
According to reports at the time, security around the event was so tight that members of the Skibo Castle staff were asked to sign a four-page confidentiality document.
The Daily Mail’s Richard Pendlebury reported that: ‘guests were summoned to attend Skibo several days before the ceremony, and one of the more unusual stipulations laid down by Madonna’s people was that only the wives of male guests or girlfriends to whom Madonna had been introduced and knew, should be allowed to attend.’
Famous as the home of Scots-born American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, Skibo Castle is a largely nineteenth century building in a style described as gothic fantasy.
Skibo Castle, near Inverness, played host to the wedding of Guy Ritchie and Madonna in 2000
Journalists and photographers wait outside Skibo as the celebrations take place
The security around Skibo Castle was unusually tight. Staff were said to have signed confidentiality forms
It boasts a spectacular location – plus its own golf course – on the Dornach Firth, 45 minutes from Inverness.
Althorp House, one of Diana’s childhood homes, is a Grade 1 listed mansion dating from the late 17th century. The estate has been in the possession of the Spencer family since 1508.
The body of Diana was laid to rest on a small island in a lake in the Althorp grounds.
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