Examining Princess Diana's interiors style
Much has been written about Princess Diana's style – she's a fashion icon of cult status – but very little is known about her her taste in interiors. However, some images do exist from her time living at Kensington Palace, which gives us an insight into her love of pattern, colour and whimsy.
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When Diana moved into the apartments at the tender age of 20 in 1981, she looked to the South African interior designer Dudley Poplak to update the rooms while respecting their heritage. Poplak's 2005 obituary in The Times describes the decorator as,"a shy and private man."
Introduced to Diana by her mother the then Countess Spencer (later Frances Shand Kydd), who asked him to work for her daughter in the run-up to her marriage to the Prince of Wales, his first assignment for the couple was Highgrove, the Gloucestershire home of the Prince and Princess of Wales, which he considered “the most important assignment I have ever had."
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"Dudley Poplak had a preponderance of high-profile clients, for many of whom his courtier-like discretion and marked reticence with the press were major parts of his appeal. “I don’t know how you found out,” Poplak told The Times in 1989 when the newspaper broke the story that he was refurbishing Highgrove House for the soon-to-be-wed Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. “And I certainly won’t tell you what the colour schemes are. That would be like disclosing the design of Lady Diana’s wedding dress.”
The Times obiturary gives a fascinating insight in to the decorator's work for Diana, who of course grew up surrounded by beautiful things. Her childhood home Althorp in Northamptonshire has one of Europe’s finest private collections of furniture, paintings and ceramics. What we often forget when we look at images of the princess from this time is her youth.
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"For the Princess — possibly his only client who was still a teenager at the time of his commission — he produced a youthful variant of the chintzy country-house look that was seen everywhere that year. With a palette of clean, fresh colours — plenty of lime green and aquamarine — he created a gentle, relaxed mood with no flights of fancy other than the odd experiment with interesting textures. It was a more conventional approach, certainly, than Robert Kime’s present scheme for the house, but Poplak had known the Princess since she was a child, and it was a look with which he knew she would be comfortable: ever a major concern with him in his relationships with clients. Later, Poplak designed more interiors for the Prince and Princess — at their apartment in Kensington Palace — and he also worked on the interior of the royal train."
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In her Kensington Palace apartments that "youthful variant of the chintzy country-house look" prevails. The rooms in the images very much speak of their moment in time, with ruffles, frills and wallpaper borders combined in a manner that is uniquely Eighties. Diana's home was fashionable, comfortable and as informal as the rooms of a palace, packed with important pieces of art and furniture, can be.
Getty Images1/11The living room at Kensington Palace features a pink sofa and matching chair with box pleated skirts. The colour is picked up in the patterned wallpaper. A Regency mirror hangs above the fireplace, while some impressive flowers sit in its hearth.
Getty Images2/11The sofa features a cushion covered in a pattern that matches the palace wallpaper. While the other cushions are covered in a white and pink floral textile, whose colour matches the sofa. The lamp looks to be a marble base, topped with a pleated and frilled cream shade.
Getty Images3/11Behind the sofa, Diana sits at a dark wooden desk on a green fabric-covered chair. The curtain pelmets are trimmed with the same fabric as the wallpaper and feature an impressive frill. The pictures behind Princess Diana show appear to be watercolour scenes of Asia.
Getty Images5/11In another more formal space at Kensington Palace the pale yellow walls have a tan border. The round tables are covered in an embroidered fabric with fringed passementerie, on top of which sit matching Chinese lamps. We're particularly taken by the collection of ceramic animals just behind Prince Charles and Princess Diana's heads; the parrots have been positioned under a painting of birds, in the same position.
Getty Images6/11An apricot arm chair in the same room also features a passementerie trim opposite an antique cream sofa.
Getty Images7/11More family photos are displayed on the grand piano, whose stool is covered in a green velvet.
Getty Images8/11This lovely room is the Princes' playroom, with a delightful strawberry-print carpet whose colours Diana has expertly complemented in the furnishings. From the chair in the background to the rocking horses, there are red accents across the room, while the green is picked up by a clever trim on the walls.
Getty Images9/11The playroom also sported a pale pink sofa with blue trim and adorable seats for the boys - one rattan and cane and the other one painted wood. Decorative plates and the childrens' artwork adorn the walls.
Getty Images10/11While there are no images of the interiors of Highgrove during Diana's time available, there do exist some shots of her in the glorious gardens.
Getty Images11/11In another shot, we see a play area for the boys, complete with swing set, slide and a playhouse.
