Chapter 3 3. The beautiful hometown

Parker Manor and Althorp House are two places with completely different impressions in Diana's childhood memory.The former is warm and beautiful, while Althorp House is a horrible and gloomy scene. Diana and her family lived at Parker Manor from 1961 to 1975.The residence has 10 bedrooms, ample parking garage, outdoor swimming pool, tennis and cricket courts.In addition to Diana's family, there are 6 full-time staff, including cooks, housekeepers, and private tutors, who live and serve Viscount Spencer's family. In the child's memory, Parker Manor is so wonderful and warm.They remembered the bluestone-floored kitchen on the first floor, where they had looked for food.A dark green laundry room, where Diana's cat, Marmered, lived.In one classroom, Miss Gertrude Allen, the governess, taught the children a little rudimentary knowledge of reading and writing.In the room next to the classroom, there are posters, photos and other memorabilia of singers in the 1960s, which arouse people's imagination.The children called this room "The Beatles", perhaps it was named after the famous "The Beatles" in the 1960s.The other layouts in the house are no different from those of the upper-class British aristocratic families, with family portraits and souvenirs hanging.

The second floor is the children's bedroom. Diana's bedroom is a beautiful cream color, overlooking the window, which is a beautiful rural scenery.The field is flat and wide, and the green grass is dotted with silver-white birch forests and yew forests. From time to time, small animals such as rabbits and foxes can be seen running across the grass.The ocean is not far from here, and there is a sea breeze blowing from time to time. Children really regard this natural world as their paradise.There are many interesting things there.By the lake of Sandringham Manor, they used to feed amused fish, slide down the handrail of the stairs, walk around with their puppies, play hide-and-seek in the garden, and look for bird eggs in the wild.Summer is a great time for fun, with swimming in the pool, picnics on the nearby beach, and play games in their own treehouse.

The children of the Spencer family started riding horses at the age of 3, and Diana was no exception, and also started raising her own small pets.Her favorite small animals include guinea pigs, rabbits, hamsters, and kittens.When a small animal unfortunately died, little Diana would hold a funeral solemnly.Goldfish are "water buried" in toilets, while other animals are placed in cardboard shoebox "coffins" in their graveyards under lush cedar on the lawn.Little Diana would dig a hole, lay them in the ground, and pray for them.In the children's world, there is no difference in the form of life between animals and humans. I believe that many children have sincerely buried their unfortunate pets.It is through having pets that children learn to care and protect others.Diana's love for small pets is just a preview of her extensive love in adulthood.

The gloomy cemetery was a frequent haunt of little Diana.Diana and her brother Charlie went to the church at Sandringham to mourn their brother John who died young.Time has passed and the situation has changed, and the grass on the tomb is desolate.Little Diana and little Charlie sparked some preliminary thinking about life.If brother John survived, would we exist? Little Diana thought, if there was brother John, she would not have been born into this world.Little Charlie believes that if John is alive, his parents will give birth to Diana and not give birth to him.The children make all kinds of guesses, but since the "what ifs" don't come true, the guesses lead to no conclusions.Little Diana just felt that the epitaph "Love Memorial" on John's tombstone implied: If I were a boy, my parents would not be so sad and disappointed.

As for Althorp House, where the grandfather lived, the children felt it was a sin to go there.There are too many chilling dark corners in the historic house, and the deep corridors are full of portraits of long-dead ancestors. Their arrogant and reserved postures and cold eyes always made Diana afraid.Diana’s younger brother Charlie recalled: “It was like an old watch shop, and the ticking sound repeated the footsteps of the past. For a sensitive child, it was depressing. We didn’t want to go there.” Earl Althorp who lives in the big house is the real owner here.He knows the history of every portrait and every piece of furniture here.Known as the "Museum Earl" by everyone, he often accompanied the guests to visit the big house with a whisk in his hand.He cherishes the big house very much, and when he accompanied his distant relative Winston Churchill to visit the library of the big house, he snatched the cigar from his mouth.Behind his bad temper lies his cultivation and appreciation of art, while his bohemian son is just the opposite.The accumulation of several generations will come to naught in just one generation.The works of art in Althorp House were sold off one by one. If the old earl knew about it, he would die with regret.

Serious parents always make children fear and dare not get close, and Diana did exactly that to her grandfather.But it was different for grandmother Countess Spencer.Diana's thoughtfulness, love, and kindness are more or less inherited from her grandmother.Diana recalled: "She is kind, kind, benevolent and kind, and she is a very good person." The countess is loved by the local people. She often visits the old, weak, sick and those in need, giving them help, comfort and strength . Diana's most important relatives --- father and mother, are more distant from them.This can be seen from the way they eat.Three meals a day are eaten with the nanny, and the daily diet does not change much, and the dishes are simple and unchanged.Oatmeal in the morning, meat and vegetables at noon, and fish once a week.