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.

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.

“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 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.

“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.

“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.”

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.

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.

“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.

“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.

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