The day Madonna asked if she could get married at my house! Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, opens a “surreal” call from the star

He was notable for his absence from the weddings of his daughters Lady Kitty and Lady Amelia Spencer, but Earl Spencer could have organized the Queen of Pop’s wedding.

Princess Diana’s brother has revealed that Madonna asked him if she could exchange vows with film director Guy Ritchie at his Northamptonshire seat, Althorp.

“I was cooking at home one day and the phone rang and this voice said, ‘Hello, this is Madonna,’ and I thought, ‘Well, who the hell is this? It’s too ridiculous.’

“And then I realized it was, and she said she wanted to get married.”

Historian and ninth Earl, Charles Spencer, outside his family seat of Althorp House in Northamptonshire

Earl Spencer revealed Madonna’s surprise request on The Rabbithole Detectives Podcast, pictured

The podcast features Reverend Richard Coles, author and archaeologist Dr. Cat Jarman and Earl Spencer

Historian Charles Spencer adds to The Rabbit Hole Detectives podcast: ‘We had a rather surreal conversation where all I thought was ‘I can’t believe this’.

At the end she said, “And how are you?” And I said, “I’m fine, thanks, what about you?”

And she said, “Well, I advise you not to give birth in the same month and put out an album”. I have remained religious about it.’

He adds, “She didn’t have the wedding with me then, but at least we had that moment.”

The American pop superstar married Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels director Ritchie, 54, in 2000 in a £1.5 million wedding at Skibo Castle, in the Highlands of Scotland. The couple divorced in 2008.

In hindsight, Earl Spencer might have been relieved that this particular celebrity wedding passed him by.

According to reports at the time, security surrounding the event was so tight that members of Skibo Castle’s staff were asked to sign a four-page confidentiality document.

Richard Pendlebury of the Daily Mail reported that: “guests were summoned to attend Skibo several days before the ceremony, and one of the more unusual stipulations imposed by Madonna’s people was that only the wives of male guests or girlfriends to whom Madonna was introduced and knew she would be allowed to attend.’

Famous as the home of Scottish-born American industrialist Andrew Carnegie, Skibo Castle is a largely nineteenth-century building in a style described as Gothic Fantasy.

Skibo Castle, near Inverness, played host to Guy Ritchie and Madonna’s wedding in 2000

Journalists and photographers wait outside Skibo while the festivities take place

Security around Skibo Castle was unusually tight. The staff would have signed confidentiality forms

It has a spectacular location – plus its own golf course – on the Dornach Firth, 45 minutes from Inverness.

Althorp House, one of Diana’s childhood homes, is a Grade II listed mansion from the late 17th century. The estate has been owned by the Spencer family since 1508.

Diana’s body was buried on a small island in a lake on the Althorp property.