Earl Spencer shares a sweet childhood photograph with Princess Diana - and delighted royal fans are convinced Princess Charlotte is her late grandmother's double

Earl Spencer has sent royal fans wild after sharing a childhood photo with Princess Diana where the late royal looks 'just like Princess Charlotte'.

Princess Diana's younger brother, 59,  posted a sweet snap of him and Diana from 1967 on Instagram.

The heartwarming picture showed Charles, at the age of three and wearing a checked plaid top, shorts and sandals.

In the image, the Earl is happily sitting on a swing in the garden of the Althorp estate in West Northamptonshire while Diana stands beside him.

The late Princess of Wales donned a white linen T-shirt and shorts with a pair of flip flops on as she gave a sweet smile to the camera.

Princess Diana 's brother shared an adorable snap with his late sister as children and royal fans are convinced Princess Charlotte is her double

The children were being watched by their mother Frances Kydd, who was 31 at the time. 

The post read: 'My mother, Diana and I, in 1967. I would have been 3, and Diana 5 or 6. I love how happy each of us looks.

'At this stage of my life, my mother nicknamed me 'Buzz' - because she saw me as having the endless energy of a rather happy - and busy - bee.'

Many rushed to the comments to point out the resemblance of Diana and Prince William's daughter Charlotte.  

One person wrote: 'Diana looks just like Charlotte. Great memory!' Another said: 'That was the first thing I thought. Charlotte looks just like her grandma Princess Diana.'

Someone else wrote: 'That's what I think to Charlotte is a combination of Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana.' A fourth wrote: 'You can really see Princess Charlotte in Diana in this photo!!'

It's not the first time royal fans have spotted the resemblance of the two as many thought Charlotte looked like her late grandmother at the King's the Coronation last year.

Many shared an image of Charlotte's grandmother, who died in 1996, from when she was aged around 10.

However many remarked that Diana, who is six-years-old in the black and white snap, bore a striking resemblance to her granddaughter Princess Charlotte (pictured at the King's Coronation) 

Many rushed to the comments to point out the resemblance of Diana and Prince William's daughter Charlotte

The post read: 'My mother, Diana and I, in 1967. I would have been 3, and Diana 5 or 6. I love how happy each of us looks'

One person commented: 'Princess Charlotte looks exactly like Diana, it's insane.' Another wrote: 'Charlotte looks like Diana omg.' A third added: 'Charlotte looks like grandma Diana.'

In 2022 royal fans went wild over how much Charlotte looked like Diana in a video with Prince William ahead of the Euro2022 final in which he and Charlotte shared their support for the Lionesses. 

It has been 27 years since Princess Diana died at the age of 36, when the car she was travelling in crashed in a Paris tunnel on August 31, 1997.

The post on social media follows rare glimpse of Princess Diana's final resting place on the Althorp Estate by Charles' wife Karen. 

The late Princess of Wales' grave is situated on a private island in the middle of the Oval Lake on the Northampton estate where she grew up.

Royal fans have gone wild over how much Princess Charlotte looks like her late grandmother Princess Diana at the Coronation (left, Diana in 1970, and right, Charlotte) 

Charles grew up with his older sister Diana, who said she had always looked after him when they were young

Charles said he had an 'unhappy childhood' and Diana said she saw 'Mummy crying an awful lot'

Although there is a memorial for members of the public to pay their respects, Diana's grave is completely remote and can only be visited by family.

Last month, Countess Spencer - who married Diana's brother Charles in 2011 - shared a photo of the Oval Lake with her 74,000 Instagram followers.

Posting on her Instagram Stories, the mother-of-one wrote: 'The Oval in the mist at dusk...'

The Countess appears to have been enjoying a walk around the sprawling 13,000 acre estate when she stopped to take the photo.

Canadian-born former model Karen lives at the impressive Althorp estate with her husband, Charles, 59, and their 11-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte.

Charles Spencer married his third wife, Karen Gordon, in 2011 (pictured together in 2017)

Although the island where her sister-in-law is buried is not visible, the trees surrounding the lake are pictured reflecting in the crystal clear and calm water

Although the island where her sister-in-law is buried is not visible, the trees surrounding the lake are pictured reflecting in the crystal clear and calm water.

In August 2023, it was reported that 36 oak trees had been planted round the path leading to the lake along with hundreds of white water lilies and roses.

The number of trees are said to represent each year in Diana's life before she tragically died in a car accident in Paris in August 1997.

The island is located at the centre of the Spencer family’s 500-year-old ancestral estate, which spans 13,000 acres surrounding its walled 500-acre park.

In his 1998 book Althorp, Princess Diana's brother Charles discussed why the decision had been taken to bury the royal on the island in the Oval - when so many family members had been laid to rest at St Mary the Virgin church in Great Brington.

He reflected: 'We all agreed that, with its beauty and tranquility, this was the place for Diana to be.'

Princess Diana in June 1997, just two months before she tragically died in a car crash in Paris

The 'temple' on the Althorp estate in Northampton where members of the public can pay their respects to Diana

In an interview with People magazine, Earl Spencer said he wanted his nephews Prince William and Prince Harry to have a private place to visit their late mother.

He added: 'It is, luckily, very tranquil here and they can come and go as they wish whenever they want. And that’s very lovely for me to know that.'

Unlike a church, Earl Spencer said the water of the Oval Lake would 'act as a buffer against the interventions of the insane and ghoulish with the thick mud presenting a further line of defence'.

The Althorp estate also houses a public memorial to Princess Diana, where guests can pay their respects.

The Grecian-inspired monument - which has been dubbed 'the Temple' - was purchased by the fifth Earl Spencer in the 1880s and features Diana's name, silhouette and a quote from the Princess.

One tablet reads: 'Nothing brings me more happiness than trying to help the most vulnerable people in society. It is a goal and an essential part of my life, a kind of destiny, whoever is in distress can call on me. I will come running wherever they are.'

Another tablet quotes Earl Spencer's 1997 eulogy: 'We give thanks for the life of a woman I am so proud to be able to call my sister, the unique, the complex, the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana, whose beauty both internal and external will never extinguish from our minds.'

In 2017, Earl Spencer revealed that several members of the public have made attempts to access Diana's grave.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4, he explained: 'We’ve had four attempted break-ins towards her body in the last 20 years and I’m very glad we’ve seen all of them off.

'There are some odd people out there and keeping her right here is the safest place.'