All the Homes Princess Diana Lived In Throughout Her Lifetime

While marrying into the royal family gave Princess Diana access to some spectacular properties, the homes she lived in before her wedding to Prince Charles were equally impressive. Throughout her life, the Princess of Wales lived in quite a few regal residences, including estates owned by both sides of her family, a flat in London, and several properties owned by the Crown. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of her death, AD looks back at the six places the princess called home.

Lady Diana Spencer was born in July 1961 at Park House, a home on the royal family’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, England. Park House was the family home of Diana’s mother, Frances, whose own mother had been a lady-in-waiting to the Queen Mother. The home had been built in 1863 by the future king Edward VII, who had acquired Sandringham a year earlier. The 10-bedroom Victorian house was constructed for Sir William Knollys, the comptroller of the then prince’s household.

Diana lived at Park House until 1976, when her father inherited Althorp House, the Spencer family seat near Northampton. In the 2004 book Diana: A Portrait, Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, shares fond memories of the home. “It was the best place to grow up; it was beautiful and it was big,” he told author Rosalind Coward. “There was a huge garden and a swimming pool and a tennis court. It was a very lovely environment for anyone to grow up in; we didn’t realize how lucky we were.” Park House later became a hotel catering to disabled guests, but the charity that ran it ceased operating the property in 2020.

Diana moved to Althorp House at the age of 14. The Grade I–listed 13,000-acre estate has been in the Spencer family for over 500 years. The home boasts over 90 rooms, including the grand 115-foot-long Picture Gallery with its Tudor wood paneling, and Wootton Hall, the Georgian grand entrance hall, which was used by Diana for tap dancing.

Diana first met Prince Charles at Althorp in November of 1977, when he joined her sister Sarah—who he was dating at the time—for a shooting weekend. Following her death in 1997, the princess was buried on a small island in Round Oval, a lake on the estate’s grounds.

In 1979, the 18-year-old future princess moved to London and bought an apartment in the Coleherne Court, a building in the South Kensington area. Diana lived in Flat 60 of the Edwardian red-brick mansion block and rented out the spare rooms of the three-bedroom apartment to friends for £18 per week. Diana used £50,000 inherited from her American great-grandmother for the deposit on the apartment and worked as a nanny and at a kindergarten while living there. A three-bedroom residence in the building was on the market earlier this year for £3.15 million.

Diana lived in Clarence House throughout her engagement to Prince Charles. Clarence House was built by John Nash from 1825–27 for the Duke of Clarence, the third son of George III. The bright stucco-faced building was enlarged in 1873 and has been home to many royals, including the future queen and duke of Edinburgh, who started married life there, and the Queen Mother, who lived there from 1953 until her death in 2002. Clarence House is currently home to Prince Charles and Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall.

After their marriage, Diana and Charles settled into apartments 8 and 9 at Kensington Palace, a Jacobean mansion purchased in 1689 by William III and then expanded by architect Christopher Wren. Kensington Palace was the birthplace and childhood home of queen Victoria and has been home to princess Margaret, Prince William and Kate Middleton, and Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Diana hired South African designer Dudley Poplak to decorate the three-floor residence. Poplak devised a modern interpretation of classic country house style that was fitting for the newlywed couple. Soft hues and delicate prints covered many of the rooms for a look that was elegant but not stuffy. The nursery, which took up the entire third floor, was designed by Dragons of Walton Street. Diana continued to live at Kensington Palace after her divorce and a statue of her now stands in the Sunken Garden.

Diana also lived at Highgrove House during her marriage. The Prince of Wales purchased the Georgian neoclassical home, which dates back to the late 18th century, in 1980—around the time he started seeing his future wife. Diana also called on Poplak to help furnish Highgrove House, although even the designer couldn’t turn Diana into a fan of the nine-bedroom home. In Tina Brown’s 2007 book, The Diana Chronicles, she writes “Highgrove would become the base for everything [Diana] most disliked: horses, Camilla, and ‘heavy furniture’ neighbors.” (Camilla Parker Bowles lived about 45 minutes away from Highgrove.)