Charles, Earl Spencer has revealed the heartfelt present he received from a friend over the weekend to celebrate his 60th birthday.
Diana, Princess of Wales', brother took to social media to share the unbelievably touching gift and how his late sister's memory and the desire to keep her close was the inspiration behind it. Alongside pictures of a handmade canoe, the Earl wrote: "Today I turn 60. I had 30 friends and family to stay over the weekend... I was brought down to the lake at Althorp by a friend, on Saturday."
He continued: "Her husband handmade this astonishingly beautiful canoe for me, as a surprise, over many months. I cried on seeing it. It’s almost too exquisite to paddle.
"The husband said: 'I just thought it’d be useful, when you visit your sister'. Such an overwhelmingly beautiful thought."
The gift is especially touching as it will allow the Earl to row to his late sister's resting place on an island in the beautiful Oval Lake at Althorp House in Northamptonshire.
Earl Spencer has frequently spoken about his late sister's memory and his passion to be there for her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, in the similar way that she would have been. It was at her funeral in 1997 where the Earl made his famous speech about protecting his two nephews and not allowing their lives to be completely immersed by royal duty and tradition.
As he stood in the pulpit, the Earl said: "I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you planned.
"We fully respect the heritage into which they have both been born and will always respect and encourage them in their royal role but we, like you, recognise the need for them to experience as many different aspects of life as possible to arm them spiritually and emotionally for the years ahead. I know you would have expected nothing less from us."
