Earldom of Spencer
Coat of arms
Creation date	1 November 1765; 259 years ago (1 November 1765)
Created by	George III
Peerage	Peerage of Great Britain
First holder	John Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer
Present holder	Charles Spencer, 9th Earl
Heir apparent	Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp
Remainder to	1st Earl'sheirs maleof the body lawfully begotten
Subsidiary titles	Viscount Althorp Viscount Spencer Baron Spencer of Althorp
Seat(s)	Althorp Spencer House

Earl Spencer is a title in thePeerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the titleViscount Althorp, ofAlthorp in theCounty of Northampton, forJohn Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer.^[1][2] He was a member of the prominentSpencer family and a great-grandson of the1st Duke of Marlborough. Previously, he had been createdViscount Spencer, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, andBaron Spencer of Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, on 3 April 1761.^[3][2]

The future6th Earl Spencer was createdViscount Althorp, ofGreat Brington in the County of Northampton, on 19 December 1905 in thePeerage of the United Kingdom.^[4]Diana, Princess of Wales, was the youngest of three daughters of the8th Earl Spencer.William, Prince of Wales, andPrince Harry, Duke of Sussex, are grandsons of the 8th Earl Spencer.

The family seat isAlthorp inNorthamptonshire.^[2] It includes the civil parish ofAlthorp, inWest Northamptonshire, of about 13,000 acres (5,300 ha).^[a] The family's estate includes significant land holdings in other parts of the country, including the village ofNorth Creake inNorfolk. The family also ownsSpencer House in St James's,London.

Thecoat of arms of the family is as follows: Quarterlyargent andgules, in the second and third quarters a fretor, over all on abendsable, three escallops of the first. Thecrest, emerging from the coronet, is a griffin's head argent, gorged with a bar gemelle gules between two wings expanded of the second. Thesupporters are:Dexter, agriffin per fessermine and erminois, gorged with a collar sable, the edges flory-counter-flory, and chained of the last, on the collar, three escallops argent;sinister, awyvern erect on his tail ermine, collared and chained as the griffin. Themotto isDieu defend le droit (French: God protects the right).^[7]

• John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer (1734–1783)
• George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer (1758–1834)
• John Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl Spencer (1782–1845)
• Frederick Spencer, 4th Earl Spencer (1798–1857)
• John Poyntz Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer (1835–1910)
• Charles Robert Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer (1857–1922)
• Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer (1892–1975)
• Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (1924–1992)
• Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (b. 1964)

Theheir apparent is the present holder's sonLouis Frederick John Spencer, Viscount Althorp (b. 1994).

This is a continuation of the Spencer/Spencer-Churchill family tree for the Althorp branch of the Spencers found in theSpencer family article.

Coat of arms of Earl Spencer

Coronet ACoronet of an Earl Crest Out of a Ducal Coronet Or a Griffin's Head Azure gorged with a Bar Gemelle Gules between two Wings expanded of the second Escutcheon Quarterly Argent and Gules, in the 2nd and 3rd quarters a Fret Or, over all on a Bend Sable three Escallops of the first Supporters Dexter: A Griffin per fess Ermine and Erminois gorged with a Collar Sable the edges flory-counterflory and chained of the last and on the Collar three Escallops Argent; Sinister: A Wyvern Erect on his tail Ermine similarly collared and chained Motto Dieu Defend Le Droit (God defends the right)

• Spencer family
• Spencer Gulf
• Spencer (clothing)

• Paprocki, Sherry Beck (July 2009).Diana, Princess of Wales: Humanitarian. Infobase Publishing.ISBN 978-1-60413-463-6.

• Battiscombe, Georgina (1984)The Spencers of Althorp. London: Constable.ISBN 978-0-09-465700-7
• Spencer, Charles (1999)Althorp: the story of an English house. London: Viking.ISBN 978-0-312-20833-2
• Spencer, Charles (2000)The Spencers: a personal history of an English family. New York: St. Martin's PressISBN 978-0-312-26649-3

Wikimedia Commons has media related toEarls Spencer.

• Althorp – official website
• Cracroft's Peerage page
• The Heraldry of the Early Spencers
• Heraldry of the House of Spencer

• Earldoms in the Peerage of Great Britain
• Earls Spencer
• Noble titles created in 1765
• Spencer family

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from June 2019
• Commons category link is on Wikidata