Princess Diana's Nephew Is Starring in His First Film—And Has Ditched Spencer In Favor of a Stage Name

As the eldest son of Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, Louis Spencer is heir to their vast family home. Known as Viscount Althorp, the 31-year-old will one day own the Althorp estate, where his aunt Diana is buried—and per the Sun, he'll inherit what's estimated to be "a staggering £100m" fortune. But for now, the viscount is busy building an acting career—and he's not using his Spencer name.

Louis will start in the short film Pinch Ouch, which, according to Tatler, "explores the dark world of sexual abuse in Hollywood." The Spencer heir is seen in a trailer shared by Mood Dream Productions on Instagram earlier this year, and in the captions he's listed as playing the role of the character Sam. Notably, Louis is billed as "Louis Lyons" in the film.

The Daily Mail's Richard Eden wrote in his October 10 column that Pinch Ouch's writer/director Nicole Kent, who also acts in the piece, called Louis "amazing to work with and a great actor." The film follows an actress who travels to L.A. to meet a famous acting coach, "who turns out to be a sexual predator."

Louis graduated from London's Arts Educational Schools and rarely makes public appearances, unlike his big sisters Lady Kitty, Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza, who are models and regular fixtures on the London social scene.

The four children were born to Charles Spencer's first wife, Victoria Aitken, and spent much of their childhood in South Africa, where Lockwood still lives.

Louis, Amelia, Eliza and Kitty share two half-siblings from their father's second marriage to Caroline Freud and a third half-sibling, Charlotte Diana Spencer, from the earl's failed third marriage to Karen Gordon.

Along with Louis's first film role, the Spencer family also has another reason to celebrate this year, as Lady Eliza announced her engagement to her longtime boyfriend, Channing Millard, in August.