EARL Spencer was today assessing the damage to his Cape Town home after fire swept through its thatched roof following a lightning strike.

The Earl and his four children escaped unhurt when the roof and top floor of the family mansion were destroyed by the blaze, which started after the house was struck by lightning yesterday.

The Earl and his children were not home when the fire started, but had returned shortly afterwards, according to Cape Town firefighters.

The family were due to fly to England last night to spend Christmas at their Althorp country estate, but have now delayed their departure until later this week.

The Earl's former wife Victoria had been driving to the house in Constantia, a wealthy suburb of Cape Town, to say goodbye to the children, when she saw flames shooting from the house.

Her lawyer Ingrid Hoffmann said: "Victoria called me when she got back to her home with the children and seemed remarkably calm. But the children were petrified, it was a very traumatic experience for them."

The children, Kitty, eight, twins Eliza and Katya, six, and Louis four, spent last night at their mother's bungalow, while their father stayed with a friend.

Frightened

The alarm was raised by 14-year-old Warrick Mulder, who saw the flames from his home nearby.

He said: "I saw a big flash then heard a huge thunderclap.

"I could see the flames shooting right over the tops of the trees and I was frightened that someone could be inside."

It had been raining heavily in Cape Town for most of the day, but firemen said lightning often strikes through the wet thatching into dryer layers underneath.

Earl Spencer, 34, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, moved to South Africa four years ago.