The People’s Princess lived in numerous palaces before her untimely death 25 years ago.
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.
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