Princess Diana at Home: Inside the Icon’s Domestic Life at Three Royal Residences
“I am not a political figure, I am a humanitarian figure, and always have been and always will be,” Princess Diana said in 1997, months before her tragic death. Diana, who was 20 when she married King Charles in 1981, embraced that mentality throughout her time as a royal, devoting herself to causes that ranged from mental health to the AIDS epidemic. It was Diana’s kindness and care for others that led Prime Minister Tony Blair to dub her The People’s Princess.
It’s no surprise, then, that the Princess of Wales was a devoted parent and favored playful, colorful interiors that matched her warm disposition. Below, we’ve rounded up photos of Diana at her royal residences.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images1/15Honeymooning in the Highlands
Diana is pictured here with King Charles standing in front of the River Dee during their 1981 honeymoon on the grounds of Balmoral Castle, a royal retreat in the Scottish Highlands. The estate, which is also where Queen Elizabeth II lived out her final days, boasts 50,000 acres of breathtaking natural landscapes as well as manicured gardens. The newlyweds kicked off their honeymoon at Broadlands, the English home of the Earl and Countess Mountbatten of Burma, where Queen Elizabeth (then a princess) and Prince Philip had also honeymooned 34 years prior. From there, Diana and Charles flew to Gibraltar for a 12-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia before ending their vacation at Balmoral.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images2/15Raising a royal family
Diana plays with Prince William at their home inside London’s Kensington Palace in this 1983 snapshot. They resided in apartments eight and nine inside the Jacobean mansion, which has been owned by the royal family since William III bought it in 1689. The Princess of Wales tapped South African designer Dudley Poplak to outfit the three-floor dwelling with elegant yet cheerful decor, including lots of pastels and floral prints.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images3/15Portraits at the palace
Here, the royal couple pose for a picture in their Kensington Palace drawing room in 1983. Diana opted for a yellow color scheme for the gathering space, which was anchored by a large floral area rug. Official meetings were often held in the drawing room, so furnishing for the area leaned more classic and antique than the rest of the residence.
Photo: Anwar Hussein/Getty Images4/15A day at the park
The then Prince and Princess of Wales sit in the garden outside Kensington Palace in this 1983 photo as an 18-month-old Prince William wanders the grounds. “What [Diana] loved above all at Kensington was to walk round the park while hiding her identity in drab clothes,” an insider told Kensington Palace author Tom Quinn. “She’d set off on her own, wearing dark glasses and sit on a bench by the Round Pond, just watching passersby.”
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images5/15The butter-yellow drawing room palette
Charles and Diana show off another angle of their Kensington Palace drawing room in this 1985 photo. The tall, stately marble fireplace was adorned with colorful figurines while matching round tables dressed in fringed polka dot tablecloths incorporated the pale yellow of the room’s walls.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images6/15Diana the pianist
Diana and her two young sons sit at the grand piano in their Kensington Palace home in this 1985 photo. The drawing room corner was decorated with a gilded mirror and a collection of family photos. The princess was a talented pianist who reportedly liked to play Bach in her moments of downtime.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images7/15The frilly and fun sitting room
In this 1985 photo, Lady Di works at the desk in her vibrant Kensington Palace sitting room, which doubled as her office. The space was decorated with feminine furnishings, including a pink sofa, baby blue ruffled drapes, and matching pink-and-blue wallpaper. The desk and customized yellow school trunk pictured here were later displayed in a Buckingham Palace exhibit to honor the 20th anniversary of the princess’s 1997 death.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images8/15Sweet nursery
Princess Diana helps Prince William work on a puzzle at their Kensington Palace apartment in 1985. The nursery, pictured here, made up the entire third floor of the home. Diana commissioned luxury children’s design brand Dragons of Walton Street to design whimsical furnishings for the sweet space, which featured a strawberry-printed carpet.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images9/15Diana the fashion icon
In this 1986 snap, Princess Diana selects fabrics for her royal tour wardrobe with the help of fashion designers David and Elizabeth Emanuel, who also designed the royal’s wedding dress. The trio are gathered in front of the white marble fireplace in Diana’s sitting room, where five years later she secretly recorded the tapes that became the basis for journalist Andrew Morton’s controversial 1992 book, Diana: Her True Story.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images10/15A seat at the table
Diana sits at the dining room table at her Kensington Palace home during a 1986 meeting. Dramatic velvet drapes and bamboo chairs with matching red upholstery stood out against the room’s beige walls, which were decorated with historic portraits for a more traditional look than some of the princess’s other domestic spaces.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images11/15Home at Highgrove
The Prince and Princess of Wales also maintained a residence at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, where they are pictured here in 1986. Charles bought the 18th-century Georgian neoclassical dwelling in 1980. As with her Kensington Palace quarters, Diana hired Poplak to decorate the nine-bedroom mansion ahead of their 1981 wedding. The interior decorator once told the Times that the project was “the most important assignment I have ever had.” Per the outlet, he gave the home’s interiors a youthful color palette that included lime green and aquamarine.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images12/15Resting in the garden
In this 1986 image, Diana relaxes by a sundial in Highgrove House’s garden. Though it was a beautiful setting, the princess reportedly hated the country home. “She referred to her trips to their Gloucestershire home as ‘a return to prison’ and rarely invited her family or friends,” Morton wrote in Diana: Her True Story. “She feels that Camilla [Parker Bowles] lives just down the road and regardless of any effort she puts into the house, she never feels it is her home,” Diana’s longtime friend James Gilbey told the biographer.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images13/15Little princes
Princess Diana plays with Harry and William in this 1986 photo taken at Highgrove House. The young royal was known for being a particularly attentive parent. “We have an obligation to care for our children in ways which clearly show our children we value them. They, in their turn, will then learn how to value themselves,” she said in 1993.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images14/15Hands-on mothering
In this 1986 photo, the princess walks with William and his pony on the grounds of Highgrove. Diana’s involved approach to parenting clearly stuck with her sons, who were only 15 and 12 years old when she died. “I see my mum’s legacy when I look at my own children every day,” Prince Harry said in 2022.
Photo: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images15/15Princess in pink
When Diana and Charles separated in 1992, the princess continued to reside at Kensington Palace. Charles stayed primarily at Highgrove, where the princess is pictured here in 1986. The royals were officially divorced in 1996. “People think that at the end of the day a man is the only answer. Actually, a fulfilling job is better for me,” Diana said in 1995.
