Mayfair townhouse that was Princess Diana's refuge on sale for £10.95m

Property belonged to 'wicked' stepmother Raine Spencer who became Diana's confidante

The £10.95 million Mayfair townhouse was once owned by Princess Diana's stepmother, Raine Spencer. Photo: Wetherell

A townhouse in Mayfair that served as a refuge for Princess Diana following her divorce, is on the market for £10.95 million.

The cream-stucco, four-storey Georgian-style property, which was built in the 1980s, is in one of the most “favoured” streets in the upmarket central London neighbourhood, joint agent Peter Wetherell told The National.

It was previously owned by Diana’s father, Earl Spencer, and her stepmother, Raine, Countess Spencer, who he divorced in 1992.

Countess Spencer with her stepdaughter Princess Diana. Photo: Wetherell

Diana had a complicated relationship with her stepmother, who she nicknamed Acid Raine when she was a teenager, but who later became one of her closest confidantes.

The Princess reconciled with the Countess following her divorce in 1996 and she became a frequent visitor to 24 Farm Street, spending many hours in her late father’s first-floor library.

The first-floor library in the £10.95 million Mayfair family townhouse was loved by Princess Diana and her father, Earl Spencer. Photo: Wetherell

“It is where Diana used to come to see her father. It’s where Raine reconciled with Diana,” said Mr Wetherell, founder and executive chairman of Wetherell.

“And when the Earl died, it then passed to [Raine] in the will. She lived there for quite a few years.”

The first-floor drawing room. Photo: Wetherell

The Countess, a friend of Mohammed Al Fayed, encouraged Diana’s relationship with his son, Dodi Al Fayed, who the Princess died alongside in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

Mr Wetherell said the London townhouse probably offers the best value of all property types just now.

The top-floor sitting room opens on to a private, south-facing roof terrace. Photo: Wetherell

“You get a lot of bang for your buck,” he said.

“Compared to flats they are amazing value. Service charges are going up and up with apartments, whereas with a townhouse you control your outgoings.

The townhouse offers 4,894-square feet of living space. Photo: Wetherell

“You control your environment and you get a lot of space for your money.

“You would have a dining room to sit 10 or 12 people. You would have to be buying a flat for double the amount to get a dining room that big.”

The dining room is painted in the same bright red used at Althorp, the Spencer family home. Photo: Wetherell

On the ground floor of the 4,894-square feet property there is an entrance vestibule leading into a large reception hall, ground-floor dining room and family kitchen/breakfast room opening on to a patio.

The first floor features a drawing room and a library, both leading into the upper hall. On the second floor, there are two bedroom suites, which both have walk-in dressing rooms and en suite bathrooms.

The top floor contains a self-contained suite with a bedroom and sitting room opening on to a private, south-facing roof terrace, a walk-in dressing room and bathroom.

One of the bedroom suites. Photo: Wetherell

The lower-ground floor features a guest bedroom, opening on to a patio, with a separate bathroom and dressing room, staff accommodation with a bedroom, en suite bathroom and kitchen.

“It’s got a very impressive staircase which snakes all the way through the house from top to bottom,” said Mr Wetherell.

The staircase snakes all the way through the four-storey house and there is a passenger lift. Photo: Wetherell

“It’s a beautiful house.”

Danish Arif, head of Mayfair sales at Chestertons, said the house benefits from superb reception rooms, a passenger lift giving access to all floors, well-appointed bedroom suites and staff accommodation.

The roof terrace at the 'trophy home with an illustrious history'. Photo: Wetherell

“With its aristocratic and royal connections, we anticipate significant interest in this house from discerning buyers around the world. It is a trophy home with an illustrious history,” he added.

Raine, the daughter of romantic novelist Dame Barbara Cartland, married three aristocrats – Gerald Legge, later the 9th Earl of Dartmouth; Diana’s father, John, or "Johnnie", Spencer, the 8th Earl Spencer; and Count Jean-Francois Pineton de Chambrun.

Raine, Countess Spencer outside 24 Farm Street, where she lived for more than a decade. Photo: Wetherell

She lived in the house for more than a decade, moving out in the early 2000s into a red brick mansion flat in Grosvenor Square, selling Farm Street to prominent art collectors Alan and Mary Hobart, the founders of Pyms Gallery in Mayfair.

The property is being sold by their estate via joint agents Wetherell and Chestertons.

Princess Diana through the years – in pictures

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  Ten-year-old Lady Diana Spencer during a summer holiday in Itchenor, West Sussex, in 1971. Here 'The National' takes a look back through Princess Diana's life in pictures. Getty

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  Lady Diana Spencer, 19 at the time, responds to the press while getting into a car in London, in 1980. Getty

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  The Prince and Princess of Wales on the balcony of Buckingham Palace on their wedding day, on July 29, 1981. Getty

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  Princess Diana smiling as she prepares to embrace a woman in the crowd, on the streets of Carmarthen, Wales, in 1981. Getty

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  Princess Diana and Prince Charles with their son, Prince William, in December 1983. Getty Images

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  Princess Diana wearing the Spencer family tiara at state dinner in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada, in 1983. PA

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  Princess Diana And Prince Charles watch an official event during their first royal Australian tour in 1983. Getty

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  Princess Diana and Prince Charles with newborn Prince Harry, leave St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, London, in 1984. Getty

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  Princess Diana meets members of the public during a visit to a community centre in north London in 1985. Getty

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  Princess Diana arrives at a dinner during a visit to Australia in 1985. AFP

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  Princess Diana sits on a step at her home, Highgrove House, in Doughton, Gloucestershire, in 1986. Getty

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  Prince Charles and Princess Diana and their sons, Princes William and Harry, on a cycle ride around the island of Tresco, Italy, in 1989. AP

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  Princess Diana stoops down to pick up a walking stick after a woman she dropped it over the crowd barrier, during a walkabout in Hong Kong in 1989. Reuters

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  Princess Diana waves on her way to visit US first lady Barbara Bush at the White House in Washington, in 1990. AFP

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  Princess Diana and her sons onboard the 'Maid of Mist' ship as they take a close look at the Niagara Falls, Canada, in 1991. PA

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  Princess Diana poses alone at the Taj Mahal during her visit to India in 1992. Getty

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  Princess Diana holds the hands of Mother Teresa during their first meeting at the Missionary Sisters of Charity residence in Rome, Italy, in 1992. Reuters

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  Princess Diana with her sons outside St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle, in 1992. PA

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  Princess Diana listens to a young boy during her visit to a home for children in Paris, France, in 1992. AFP

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  Princes William and Harry applaud alongside their mother, Princess Diana, during a Five Nations rugby match between Wales and France in 1992. AFP

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  Princess Diana speaks to Nepali children while touring a Red Cross project in the Himalayan foothills in 1993. AFP

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  Princess Diana, Prince Harry and Prince William carrying their skis during a skiing holiday in Lech am Arlberg, Austria, in 1994. Getty

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  Princess Diana, Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Charles outside Manor House, on Prince William's first day at Eton College in 1995. Getty

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  Martin Bashir speaking to Princess Diana in Kensington Palace during the infamous 'Panorama' interview that was aired by the BBC in 1995. Getty

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  Prince Charles, Princess Diana and their children watch the march past on the mall as part of the commemorations of VJ Day in London in 1995. AFP

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  Princess Diana meets with John Collins, a 51-year-old lung cancer patient, while visiting Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital's Hospice in 1996. AFP

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  Princess Diana during a visit to Leicester, to formally open The Richard Attenborough Centre for Disability and Arts, in May 1997. Getty

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  Princess Diana, wearing protective body armour, visits a minefield being cleared by the charity, Halo, in Huambo, Angola, in 1997. Getty

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  South African President Nelson Mandela and Princess Diana speak with the press after meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1997. AFP

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  Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Earl Spencer, and Prince William watch as the coffin of Princess Diana is carried into Westminster Abbey, London, in September 1997. AFP

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  Floral tributes for Princess Diana in front of Kensington Palace in London, in 1997. AFP

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  Prince William places a bunch of flowers with the hundreds tributes already laid outside his mother's official residence at Kensington Palace, in 1997. AFP

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  Prince William and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother, at Kensington Palace in 2021, on what would have been her 60th birthday. PA