Diana at Home

[alexrich39]

Is Colherne Court in a very expensive area of London?

Coleherne court is in the Earl's Court area of London which is part of the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. This is the most expensive borough in the United Kingdom although Earls Court is not one of the more most fashionable areas. However, Coleherne Court is a very smart apartment block, I believe flats there cost arount 750,OOO pounds today. An Eighteen year old would be very privaliged to have such a home.

 

[crisscross1]

I just Google searched Colherne Court and there are some interesting facts to read about the area and the fact Princess Diana'a father gave her the apartment she lived in as an 18th birthday gift. It looks like a beautiful place to live.

 

[sassie]

I just Google searched Colherne Court and there are some interesting facts to read about the area and the fact Princess Diana'a father gave her the apartment she lived in as an 18th birthday gift. It looks like a beautiful place to live.

I'm not sure where you read that, but it's inaccurate - Diana bought her Coleherne Court flat with money that she inherited from her American great-grandmother, held in trust until she turned 18. Her father played no part in it.

 

[crisscross1]

Google search Coleherne Court, read Coleherne Court in 2006, 21st Century.
According to you they got it wrong, I just passed on what I read.

 

[Lady Jean]

from "Frances" (Frances Shand Kydd) by Max Riddington and Gavan Naden. Mrs. Shand Kydd did give interviews to the authors:

"Diana was desperate to have her own place...She did everything she could to persuade her mother that she was both grown up and responsible. Impressed by her capacity for hard work and her fortitude...Frances began enquiring at London estate agents for a suitable flat for her youngest daughter."
"On July 1, 1979, Frances presented her daughter with the keys to 60 Coleherne Court, a 50,000pounds / $75,000 flat in a traditional mansion block in Earls Court."

 

[crisscross1]

from "Frances" (Frances Shand Kydd) by Max Riddington and Gavan Naden. Mrs. Shand Kydd did give interviews to the authors:

"Diana was desperate to have her own place...She did everything she could to persuade her mother that she was both grown up and responsible. Impressed by her capacity for hard work and her fortitude...Frances began enquiring at London estate agents for a suitable flat for her youngest daughter."
"On July 1, 1979, Frances presented her daughter with the keys to 60 Coleherne Court, a 50,000pounds / $75,000 flat in a traditional mansion block in Earls Court."

Well, this further proves that we can't believe everything we read, thanks for the update Lady Jean.

 

[sassie]

Well, this further proves that we can't believe everything we read, thanks for the update Lady Jean.

Apparently not. I stand corrected-thanks, Lady Jean, and crisscross1. I had read in several books that Diana used her inheritance to buy that apartment. The authors didn't do their research as well as they should have.

 

[Debbies]

Pictures of Diana's flat

If you go to Corbis and run a search with "Spencer wedding" you will find several pictures of Diana's flat, even of the interiors.
Be patient as they will show up after a few pages solid with other pictures of her wedding.

 

[Zonk]

How about that the flat (which I am assuming is in a great part of London) was worth 75K! I wonder what it would sell for now.

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

How about that the flat (which I am assuming is in a great part of London) was worth 75K! I wonder what it would sell for now.

If I remember right, Diana had inherited 600,000 GBP from Fanny Works, her great-grandmother, and with that she bought her flat for something like 70-75,000 GPB. But that property is worth much more than that now. As alexrich39 said, it is more like 750,000 today.
I think it's cool that Sophie Wessex had a flat in the same block or same building in thte 90s and now Kate middleton is living in Coleherne Court.
I didn't realize until seeing these pics (and that site!!) how big the Coleherne Court complex is. I always it was smaller, more exclusive. Of course it is as pricey as I imagined, but there is also something very normal about it.
Like Lady Jean and others said, Earl's Court is in the Chelsea/west London area which is very nice, but also very young, very hip and cool. In that respect, it's very different from Mayfair and Belgravia.

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

Pictures of the apartment from Corbis

Front Door

Interior shots of an apartment in the building (photographed in 1998). corbis says it is the same one Diana lived in.
Drawing Room
Drawing Room 2
The whole building from across the street
Diana's bedroom (the caption explains "which has become the bedroom for the children of the current occupants."
the corner view

 

[CasiraghiTrio]

Six pictures - Click Here (rex)

The first or second shows behind Diana a plaque that proves Lady Jean's statement that Diana lived in Block H.

BTW, I think I am wrong about Kate Middleton living in CC because I searched on rex, and I found pics of her and William leaving her flat (they were the ones that caused a stir being published in German Neue) and the building that is Kate's has an all white facade and black gates. It does not look anything like CC. So I guess that rumor I heard is just that. Unless she moved, who knows. The Palace was reportedly very upset with Neue for publishing her address, so maybe she moved for security reasons. It seems odd she would move to CC, but since at CC the units are indoor-access only, it seems very safe.

 

[alexrich39]

Coleherne Court

There are currently a couple of flats for sale in coleherne court - if you've got a million pounds to spare. You can see them at www.foxtons.co.uk Search on the postcode SW5

 

[lotsakids]

Diana's pets...or a nickname?

Hi all

I know..strange request, but I am looking for a link to the name Sooty...not sure whether it was in reference to a family pet or a nickname for someone, so I thought I'd ask here.

I read somewhere that she had a cat called marmalade who was buried on the island that is now Diana's resting place but can't find any information on any other pets names. I figured sooty was more likely a pets name than persons name...but can't be sure.

Would appreciate any help..

Thanks...lotsa

 

[sirhon11234]

The Princess had a pet guniea pig named Peanuts.

 

[Roslyn]

I've been hunting for information about Diana's pets. I only knew about Peanuts, who earned her a prize for "best kept Guinea-Pig" I think. I came across this tidbit on a ferret site, which I can't resist posting. It's almost sorta kinda on topic:

"Finally, ferrets are useful nowadays in the telecommunications industry for running wires and cables through narrow spaces. When Prince Charles of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer, the TV cables used at the wedding were put in place by a ferret. The ferret ran through narrow pipes pulling a line attached to a special harness. When the ferret popped out at the other end, the line was attached to the TV cables, which were then pulled through the pipes."

ETA Sarah Bradford mentions there being lots of animals at Park House, including "Diana's bad-tempered cat Marmalade, and her collection of hamsters, rabbits and guinea pigs." Her mother is quoted as saying Diana loved animals as a child and looked after them very well. No mention of a Sooty though.

 

[lotsakids]

Thank you..

This is a snippet I found..

JULY 7, 1998

[SIZE=+1]SPECIAL REPORT: [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]PRINCESS DIANA, 1961-1997 [/SIZE]


[SIZE=+2]DIANA SHARES BURIAL SITE [/SIZE][SIZE=+1]
The island where Princess Diana is buried used to be a cemetery for family pets, including her favorite cat, Marmalade. The wooded island, which was consecrated by the Bishop of Peterborough before Diana's burial Sept. 6, is on an ornamental lake on the Althorp estate, ancestral home of the Spencer family. The island "at one time" was a burial site for pets, and there are records of four or five of them, including Marmalade, said Shelley-Anne Claircourt, spokeswoman for Diana's brother, Earl Spencer. Britain's Mirror quoted former Althorp housekeeper Maudie Pendrey as saying, "I cannot believe Earl Spencer could be so heartless as to bury his sister in a dog burial ground. It is a desecration." [/SIZE]

--STEVEN M. SILVERMAN
--PEOPLE DAILY



Personally I wouldn't mind being buried with my beloved family pets in a lovely quiet spot like that..she spent so much of her last years in the public eye it must be nice to have the peace and quiet at last...lotsa

 

[SHARON P]

Cars Owned By Princess Diana

I know this was discussed a long time ago, but I am trying to do abit of research into cars owned by princess Diana in her early years, especially the Ford RS Turbo's in Black, which were owned in the 1980's.

I only have 1 picture of her standing near one of these vehicles and it has the letter C on the registration plate (this is all you can see).

As far as I am aware only 3-5 of these vehicle were made in BLACK, I believe that Diana/the Royals were given a couple.

From the pictures and discussions that you guys have on this forum you seem to have alot of knowledge, information, pictures, newspaper clippings etc. that I have never seen before.

Has anybody out there got any pictures or information on any of the cars she owned, especially the Black Ford RS Escorts.

Thankyou

Sharon (Harwich, England)

 

[TheTruth]

Hi SHARON P,

Here are some pictures but I don't know if I could provide you more informations on her cars ... :

Getty Images - Unsupported browser detected

Corbis: photography, rights, motion.

 

[SHARON P]

Thankyou so much for your help with the pictures, it has helped

Thankyou


Sharon P

 

[sirhon11234]

Princess Diana's Apartments

Well, some of us know that the late Princess of Wales had lived in apartments 8 and 9 I think. But does anyone know where in KP these apartments were actually located? And what is to be done to the apartments now?

 

[debzone]

I had read last year that plans are for the empty apartments to be used as office space by Charles' charities. They need space and the apartments are empty.

 

[Charlotte1]

After Diana's death, once the apartments had been cleared they were used for storage. In recent years some of the space has been converted into office space and the rest is still used for storage.

 

[Duchess]

if i remember correctly, the apartments are at the back of the palace. i seem to remember reading that in one of the books about her and that they were dark and didn't have much of a view.

 

[sirhon11234]

Then it must have been a depressing place to live then. I read that her apartments were on the ground floor.

 

[Panicgrl]

I believe she had a multi-level apartment. There is a picture in the second Burrell book of a staircase.

 

[sirhon11234]

It was a two floor apartment.

 

[Jo of Palatine]

Then it must have been a depressing place to live then. I read that her apartments were on the ground floor.

Sirhon, I had to stiffle a laugh - we don't know if her apartments were depressing. I doubt she and Charles would have accepted them (they had a choice when they were newly-weds to take these apartments or others at St.James' Palace) and a lot of renovations were done. So I doubt they were depressing at all - Charles does not strike me as the man who would have condoned that!

BTW - I saw that there's a brochure or book on sale at the palace about it's history past and present that is advertised as including floor plans. Mabe someone has the book and could look up the layout of the apartments for us and post the plan, maybe that helps?

 

[Elspeth]

Erm - that would be a copyright infringement, so I don't think it'd help.

 

[sirhon11234]

Paul Burrell released photos of some of the Princess' rooms at KP, Diana's decorating style seemed old fashioned IMO.