"Prostitutes and Australians. Isn't that who lives in Earl's Court?" said a fictionalized Princess Margaret on The Crown, when the Queen mentioned that Diana Spencer lived in the West London neighborhood.
It's fair to say that quote doesn't paint the late Margaret in the best light, but if she did in fact say something to that effect IRL, she definitely wouldn't say it today.
Not only is Earl's Court a fairly swanky neighborhood these days in general, but the simple fact of the legendary Princess Diana having once been a resident there also gives it unparalleled cachet.
At age 18, Lady Diana bought a three-bedroom apartment in the Coleherne Court building on Redcliffe Gardens, rented her extra bedrooms to three friends for £18 apiece per week, and generally had the time of her life for her two years living there prior to marrying Prince Charles.
When English Heritage announced they would install a commemorative blue plaque on the building in 2021, Diana's brother Charles Spencer tweeted, "How very lovely that this blue plaque will be going up outside Coleherne Court - thank you, @EnglishHeritage, for commemorating such a very happy place for Diana in this way."
If you, too, would like to have a happy time in Earl's Court, The Telegraph reports that a three-bedroom apartment like Diana's is now for sale in Coleherne Court. You will have to have a cute lil £3.15 million to spare on it, though.
In 1979, Diana put a £50,000 deposit on her home—money she'd inherited from a great-grandmother. But just because she was a landlady doesn't mean she got her tenants to do all the dirty work in the flat.
"She put herself in charge of clean-up duty, and was known to rise before a meal was finished to clear the table rather than endure the sight of dirty dishes," Tina Brown wrote in The Diana Chronicles.
