The former Princess of Wales and her stepmother built a close relationship
Princess Diana’s stepmother, Raine Spencer‘s glamorous former Mayfair home, 24 Farm Street, has been sold for the first time in 22 years.
The sprawling five-floor abode couldn’t be more covetable and was listed at £10.95 million with luxury estate agents Wetherell and Chestertons. The impeccable home boasts cosy, quintessentially British-inspired interiors and copious outdoor space, including a roof terrace and two outdoor patios.
© Princess Diana ArchiveDiana’s father, John ‘Johnnie’ Spencer, the eighth Earl Spencer, bought 24 Farm Street, Mayfair, in 1990 as a special gift for his wife to support her after she suffered a stroke. The property was heavily featured in a 2022 biography of Raine Spencer, entitled Three Times a Countess, by author Tina Gaudoin.
The first-floor library of the house was Johnnie’s favourite room, whilst Raine liked to entertain guests in the ground-floor dining room, which was (and still is) decorated in the same vivid red as the dining room at Althorp House, the Spencer family’s stately home. After Earl Spencer died in 1992, Raine assumed full ownership of 24 Farm Street.
© Tim GrahamAccording to Rightmove, Raine and Diana frequently visited 24 Farm Street following her divorce, with Diana sitting alone in her late father’s first-floor library for many hours at a time.
Raine was also at the property when she learned of her stepdaughter’s car crash in Paris.
For the last 22 years, the gorgeous home has been owned by the prominent art collectors Alan and Mary Hobart, the founders of Pyms Gallery in Mayfair, who used the property as a private art museum.
News of the property came just as Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, confirmed his new relationship with historian Cat Jarman, just months after his divorce from his wife of 13 years, Countess Karen Spencer.
It has since come to light that Cat is suing Karen over “misuse of private information”. The court filing was made on Thursday; however, further details about the case have yet to be revealed. For the case, Cat is being represented by the legal firm Simons Muirhead Burton, while Karen will reportedly be representing herself in the proceedings.