For some, August 31st simply marks the unofficial end of summer, a time when we can all start looking forward to chillier autumn afternoons and pumpkin spice everything. But for Charles Spencer, Princess Diana’s younger brother, it will forever be remembered the day his beloved sister passed away in a tragic car accident. As he so often does, Spencer chose to acknowledge the day with a solemn yet sweet Instagram post.
Princess Diana’s Brother Posts Gorgeous Photo and Message on 28th Anniversary of Her Passing
A solemn yet sweet acknowledgement
Published Aug 31, 2025
•7:33pm
Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images
Spencer’s simple post contains just two images—one of a bouquet of white and pink flowers, and another of a peaceful body of water (presumable the Round Oval lake) with a short dock. Both are beautifully serene photos, but it’s the caption that really tugged at my heartstrings:
“Flowers we cut this morning from Althorp’s gardens for the Island. Always an impossible day.”
Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty Images
A stately home in Northamptonshire, Althorp was where Diana lived, alongside her brother, from the age of seven all the way up until her marriage to King Charles. It’s also where she was buried, on a small island in the middle of the ornamental Round Oval lake.
Though Spencer’s post may be short, it’s incredibly touching to see him choosing flowers from around their shared home to honor her with.
TIM GRAHAM/Getty Images
Sadly, this tragic anniversary comes just two months after Diana’s birthday, on July 1. While undoubtedly a happier occasion to acknowledge, it is surely a bittersweet day for Spencer as well. Although this year he chose to honor what would have been Diana’s 64th birthday with a very celebratory photo indeed.
Spencer dug up some old childhood photos from Diana’s 6th birthday party for which their father rather miraculously “secured the services of Bert the Camel, from Peterborough Zoo.”
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It’s been 28 years since Diana died in a car crash that also claimed the lives of Dodi Fayed and their driver, Henri Paul. And while such an immeasurable loss never really gets much easier to reckon with—making today, as Spencer writes, always an impossible day—there are so many wonderful things to remember about Diana. Alongside a peaceful lake with a beautiful bouquet of flowers feels like as good a place as any to honor her memory.
