1890 to 1914 In 1890
the 5th Earl Spencer leased Spencer House to Sarah Roberts (widow of
Marshall Owen Roberts) for the London Season for £2,500. During the 1890s the House was rented by self-made millionaire
Barney Barnato at a cost of £2,000 annually. Lord Spencer resumed his occupation of the house in January 1897, although the
Vanderbilt heiress
Consuelo, Duchess of Marlborough and her first husband
the 9th Duke of Marlborough leased Spencer House later in the same year. The Marlborough's first child,
John Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of Blandford, was born at Spencer House on 18 September; Consuelo felt this was a fitting place for the birth, noting that the Spencer-Churchills were descendants of the Spencer family. In 1901 the House was leased to
Mrs Ogden Goelet and her daughter
Mary Goelet for the London Season. Mary Goelet would later go on to marry
Henry Innes-Ker, 8th Duke of Roxburghe in 1903. The Spencer family were again in residence in 1903; the 5th Earl's wife
Charlotte Spencer, Countess Spencer was in poor health by September of the same year, and
King Edward VII,
Queen Alexandra,
Princess Victoria, and
Princess Maud visited Spencer House on Sunday 6 September to inquire about the Countess' health. Lady Spencer died at Spencer House later that year on 30 October. The 5th Earl Spencer died in 1910, and Spencer House was again leased in the early 1910s to
Maurice de Forest, until
Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer resumed possession of the House in late 1914.
First World War: 1914 - 1918 In December 1916
Lord Spencer offered the use of Spencer House to the British Government in aid of the War Effort; it was reportedly the last of London's great houses to be offered for such a purpose. Lord Spencer did not charge any rent whilst the house was used during the War, and Spencer House subsequently housed the offices of the Royal Commissions on Defence of the Realm Losses and Defence of the Realm Licensed Trade Claims (South Division), as well as the Board of Referees (Finance (No. 2) Act 1915) from 1 January 1917 until early 1919.
Tenants: 1919 to 1926 By August 1919 Spencer House had been leased to the wealthy American widow
Mrs William Bateman Leeds; the continued interest and attempts to enter the building by members of the public eventually compelled Mrs Leeds to place a large sign on the front door stating
"This is the private residence of Mrs. W. B. Leeds. The D. O. R. A. have gone away and no one connected with them is here now." Residence of the Greek-royal-family-in-exile Mrs Leeds soon remarried in January 1920; her new husband was
Prince Christopher of Greece and Denmark, the youngest brother of
King Constantine I of the Hellenes. Despite her non-royal background, Prince Christopher's new wife was accepted as a member of the Greek Royal Family, and following the marriage she was known as
Princess Anastasia of Greece. At the time of the marriage, most of the extended Greek Royal Family were living in exile (King Constantine I had been forced to abdicate in 1917 in favour of his second son,
King Alexander of the Hellenes). Princess Anastasia's extensive wealth, as well as Prince Christopher's relatively low position in the line of succession to the Greek Throne were widely regarded as reasons why the marriage of Prince Christopher to a non-royal American was accepted by his family. In December 1922 Spencer House also became the temporary home of Prince Christopher's recently-exiled brother
Prince Andrew of Greece and Denmark, Andrew's wife
Princess Alice of Battenberg, and their infant son
Prince Philip of Greece. Princess Anastasia died at Spencer House in August 1923, and the property was subsequently leased for the 1924 London Season by
Cornelius Vanderbilt III and his wife
Grace Vanderbilt. Mrs Harry Brown of Pittsburg leased Spencer House for the London Season during 1925.
Final departure of the Spencer Family In October 1921,
Lord Spencer publicly announced that he had become so impoverished from the burden of high taxation that he would close his country seat
Althorp House, Northamptonshire for an indefinite period, and instead reside mostly at one of the Spencer's secondary town residences, No. 28 St James's Place. Following the death of the
Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer in 1922, the Spencer family vacated Spencer House for the final time during the early 1920s. The 6th Earl's estate had been valued at £1,197,326 for probate, and was burdened with significant estates taxes amounting to approximately £359,197. He was succeeded by his oldest son
Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer; Albert's grandson
Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, who is the current owner of the freehold, credits his grandfather with retaining ownership of the House during the 1920s and 30s, despite many of his aristocratic contemporaries disposing of their ancestral London townhouses. The Club continued to use Spencer House during the interwar period, before being requisitioned for Government use during the Second World War. By 1943 it was reported that the House had sustained some damage during the Blitz, and there was some speculation that the
Royal Society intended to take over the building. This speculation was later corroborated by the 9th Earl Spencer, who stated that his grandfather's determination to keep the House within the Spencer family's ownership wavered only once, when he gave serious consideration to an offer from both the
Bath Club and
Royal Society to acquire Spencer House for £250,000 during the 1940s. In 1963 Spencer House was leased by the
Economist Intelligence Unit.
Restoration: 1985–1990 Spencer House remains in the ownership of the
Earls Spencer, the current freeholder being
Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, brother of
Diana, Princess of Wales. In 1985
RIT Capital Partners, the family company of
Jacob Rothschild, 4th Baron Rothschild, secured a 96-year lease (with an additional 24-year option) with an annual rent of £85,000. Lord Rothschild and The Rothschild Investment Trust reportedly spent £16 million on restorating the House and grounds to their original appearance during the late 1980s. == Recent history and usage ==