WITH paint-chipped walls, stained bricks and a tatty wooden fence, this sprawling estate is clearly in need of some TLC.
Judging by its exterior, many would be surprised to discover this rundown manor has links to the Royal Family and was actually the birthplace of Princess Diana.
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Park House, which lies on the Queen’s Sandringham estate, in Norfolk, was donated to the international disability charity Leonard Cheshire in 1983.
It used to serve as a three-star hotel to help those in need until 2020, when the charity was forced to return the property after renovation costs spiralled.
The £2.3million plan intended to increase the number of bedrooms from 16 to 24 and improve accessibility, but had to be stopped during the pandemic.
Now a shell of its former glamour, the hotel lies vacant and stripped of its warming furnishings.
The retreat’s soothing flowery bedspreads and curtains are gone, windowsills look worn-out and paintings no longer decorate the walls.
Park House is barely recognisable from the time it housed its most famous occupants – the Spencer family, who rented it from the Queen.
On July 1, 1961, it became the birthplace of Princess Diana, who lived the first 14 years of her life there before it was turned into a hotel.
The home was regularly visited by royals including Princes Andrew and Edward, according to her former au pair, Inge Crane.
She told CNN that they would swim in the house’s pool and that the property was a mile’s walk from the Queen’s main house.
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Diana’s family stayed in the manor until 1976 when her father John inherited his title Earl Spencer and moved into their stately home Althorp House.
The following year, she met future husband Prince Charles for the first time.
Before the once-elegant estate was handed back to the Sandringham Estate in May 2021, it helped those with mobility issues and featured tributes to Diana, who died aged 36 on August 31, 1997.
Travel writer George Crofton, who stayed at the Park House Hotel in 2016, described the late princess’ bedroom as “peaceful and relaxing” with views that overlooked a cricket pitch and gardens.
He also noted there was a framed portrait of Diana that hung over a Christmas fireplace.
Park House estate was originally designed for King Edward VII, in 1863.
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