Charles Spencer shares a rare throwback he found in his attic of a young King Edward

Earl Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana, has shared a rare throwback picture of King Edward VIII and King George VI as young boys.

Charles Spencer, 55, posted the black and white photograph found in his attic at Althorp House to Instagram, explaining it  was taken in 1909 when Edward VIII, then 15, and King George VI, then 14, were graduating as young naval officers.

Heir Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, is isolating at his 90-room property in Northamptonshire, with his third wife, Karen, and their seven-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer. 

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Posting the black and white picture of the graduating officers, Charles wrote: ‘I came across this today at Althorp House in the attics: a photograph, from the spring of 1909, of young, graduating, naval officers. 

‘The boy seated to the right would briefly become King Edward VIII, while the one sitting to the left was his brother, later King George VI. 

‘My great-uncle Cecil Spencer is standing far right: he would become a much decorated First World War hero. Taken in Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.’

King Edward VIII reigned from 20 January 1936 until the 11 December of that year, when he was forced to abdicate as his decision to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson was frowned upon.

Meanwhile King George VI reigned from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952, when the Queen took over as monarch.

Earl posts on Instagram and Twitter – where he boasts a combined 21,800 followers – show how he has been passing the time with early morning strolls. 

While the house itself offers plenty of room to roam around, the family also has 550 acres of land to explore. 

Earl Spencer inherited the family seat in Northamptonshire on the death of his father in 1992. 

Althorp boasts 500 years worth of art and family relics and is the final resting place of Princess Diana. 

Earl Spencer has previously said that the 20,000 annual visitors to the estate can be divided into two distinct groups – those who are interested in looking at the house, and others who come to pay their respects to his late sister.  

The aristocrat made headlines last year when he revealed he is likely to follow the practice of male primogeniture, a custom in which titles, as well as stately homes, are inherited by the eldest son. 

It means Althorp will likely be passed on to drama student Viscount Louis Spencer, 25, rather than to any of his three older daughters.

Earl Spencer also has four children with his first wife, Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Eliza Spencer, Lady Amelia Spencer, Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and two children with his second wife, Edmund Spencer and Lady Lara Spencer.