Report: Inside the Malibu mansion that Princess Diana planned to move into

While Princess Diana may have been considered English royalty, it appears as though she was planning to call America her home following her divorce from King Charles.

According to multiple friends of the princess, she was eyeing a move to the United States before her tragic death in 1997.

It’s been said that she wanted to move into her boyfriend Dodi Fayed‘s stunning Malibu estate, which came complete with six bedrooms, a tennis court and pool, among other lavish amenities.

In 2021, Stewart Pearce, Diana’s voice coach and confidante told the Daily Mail that Diana was considering taking both sons Prince William and Prince Harry to live in the US. 

The voice coach, who befriended the princess in the years before her death, said Diana was developing a Hollywood career but was not interested in becoming an actress.

Instead, he said her ambitions lay behind the cameras. And the Princess of Wales allegedly saw a move to California, as key to working on her screen career. 

Former Butler Recalls Diana’s Reported Malibu Plans

This came as her romance blossomed with Fayed, who, according to a new report by Vanity Fair, purchased the Malibu home around the time they started seeing each other. 

The land had once been Julie Andrews and her husband Blake Edwards’s beachside estate, according to the outlet. 

Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, told Good Morning America in 2003 that the princess had intended to move into Fayed’s Malibu mansion and had major plans to turn it into her dream home. 

‘A lovely house … saw all the plans for it. It was going to be in Malibu,’ Burrell told journalist Charlie Gibson at the time. 

‘I saw the plans. We sat on the floor, spread out all the maps and the layout of the house.’

Elsewhere in the interview, he said that Diana had wanted to move to the US with her two sons because she believed they would have a ‘better life’ in California. 

Inside the Malibu Mansion

‘She said, “This is our new life, just won’t it be great, think of the lifestyle the boys – nobody’s judgmental here in America, you don’t have the class system, you don’t have the establishment,”‘ Burrell claimed. 

Andrews’ home had been sold to Florida financier Edward Sacks in 1992, and was later bought by Fayed, who purchased most of the furniture in the house, too. 

It was designed by Cher’s designer Ron Wilson, according to Vanity Fair, who once described the home as, a ‘little dressier than Spanish – more Tuscan in feeling, a Mediterranean casa colonica overlooking the Pacific.’ 

The large kitchen featured stunning tiling detail on the countertops and hood, which contained a swirling blue and white pattern. 

The kitchen also boasted multiple refrigerators, along with dark wood cabinets and countertops that seemed to stretch for miles.

Another part of the house contained a sun room with large windows and light wood finishings.

More Interior Details

Around a glass table sat five large, cream-colored upholstered chairs with Tuscan-style wood legs. 

The room was complete with an elaborate chandelier that hung from the ceiling above.

The home also had a neutrally-decorated living space, complete with a bar and small stools to go with it.

The room was decorated with a cream, paisley-print carpet, cream couch and ottoman-style chair.

For some color and depth, the pillows were shades of dark brown and burnt orange, and a matching blanket draped over the chair.

Another living area had large, built-in bookshelves, which appeared to be filled with books.

The space had a breezy, large spiral staircase, along with white leather furniture, another ottoman-style chair and a cozy, cream colored shag rug.

Pool and Outdoor Space

The room appeared warm and welcoming, as there were a number of various potted plants and flowers placed all around.

One of the bathrooms shown was just as California-cool, with white and blue tiling on the floors and bathtub.

The expansive shower was also decorated in the same tile pattern, as a wicker seat held towels.

In the front entrance, near what appeared to be the foyer, the home was decorated with a Turkish-style runner carpet, along with a dark wooden bench and various matching picture frames with the same wooden finish. 

In the house’s backyard was a huge pool, surrounded by white chaise lounge seats, potted plants and some gorgeous flowers.

The home also appeared to have a small pool house, with ample outdoor space.

Fayed died in the same Paris car crash as Diana and the home was sold a year later, in 1998.