Wearing a short red dress, Diana of Wales climbs the stone steps of a staircase that leads from a small private pier to the entrance of a majestic yellow-fronted villa. Accompanied by her sons William and Henry, the Princess greets Mohamed Al-Fayed, who opens his arms to her as her children splash in a pool built on the edge of a cliff with the vast blue of the Mediterranean visible on the horizon. The Al-Fayed family's summer home in Saint-Tropez takes up much of the footage in the opening chapters of the sixth and final season of the hit series The Crown, which fictionalizes the life of Queen Elizabeth II. The magnificent villa called “The Yellow Castle” is not in France, but in the Mallorcan town of Andratx. Princess Diana of Wales spent a few summer days of her youth there before she married the then Prince Charles.
Filming of the series took place in September 2022 and now the complex, which is certainly not suitable for every budget, can be rented for 59,500 euros per week in high season. In return, guests enjoy a privileged view at sunset from the small private peninsula of Sa Mola where the ship was built. You can walk through a grotto, moor at its own pier or enjoy a swimming pool and large gardens while having breakfast with the dishes prepared by him. The service staff. More than a thousand square meters spread over two houses, each with three bedrooms, which also have a fitness room, a sauna and even a billiards room. The house honors the Princess of Wales with a suite in her name, which has remained there since Lady Di spent a few summer days of her youth, as its previous owners were a couple who were friends of the Spencer family. “The house belonged to a British couple and the families were well known. “Diana of Wales came to vacation there before she was a princess, so in one of the rooms there is a plaque with her name to remember that she stayed there,” explains Fabio Palumbo, owner of the real estate agency Unisono Luxury Houses, which is dedicated to marketing the property.
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The British owners later sold it to a German businessman and the house temporarily became the focus of controversy. The new owner, German businessman Carsten Maschmeyer, invited Federal President Christian Wulff to spend a few days with his family on the property. It was July 2010 and only a few weeks had passed since he was sworn in as president. The controversy surrounding Wulff and his family's vacation in the Mallorcan villa reached the front pages of newspapers due to the inappropriateness of the relationship between the president and the businessman. Two years later, Wulff announced his resignation after being implicated in an influence peddling case of which he was eventually acquitted. Four years after the scandal, in 2014, the house was put up for sale for 38 million euros, making it one of the most expensive properties on the island at the time. The current owners are Asian and only spend a few weeks a year on the island, so they use the remaining months to make the villa profitable.
The Crown team was interested in the house because of its location and external appearance, with the aim of replicating the villa where Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed spent their last holiday in Saint-Tropez. Jose Luis Zarauz (Unisono Luxury Homes)
The Crown team was interested in the house because of its location and external appearance, as the aim was to replicate the villa where Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed spent their last holiday in Saint-Tropez. In the first three episodes of season six, the house is the setting for the budding romance between the princess and the heir to the Harrod's department store on her last vacation before the fatal accident that ended her life in Paris.
Filming of the series took place in September 2022 and now the complex, which is certainly not suitable for every budget, can be rented for 59,500 euros per week in high season. Jose Luis Zarauz (Unisono Luxury Homes)
“The production company had seen the house several times. It was perfect for them because it is a classic property and should be set in the 1990s. Of course, all the furniture has been replaced because even though it is decorated in this traditional style, it is fairly new furniture,” says Palumbo.
Its guests have a privileged view at sunset from the small private peninsula of Sa Mola on which it is built. Jose Luis Zarauz (Unisono Luxury Homes)
The production company also rented a huge yacht to recreate the images of Diana and Dodi at sea, who in several scenes in the series are harassed by paparazzi trying to photograph them from other boats. The yacht was also used to film the famous image of Diana sitting pensively in a blue swimsuit on the edge of the boat's diving board, which dominated magazines of the time. During three weeks of filming on the island, the streets of the old town of Palma and Andratx were transformed into Monte Carlo and Saint-Tropez in this sixth and final season.
The house honors the Princess of Wales with a suite in her name, which has remained there since Lady Di spent a few summer days of her youth, its previous owners being a couple who were friends of the Spencer family. Unison Luxury Homes
In addition to serving as a filming location, the Yellow Castle is also very successful with American customers, a market that has grown significantly in Mallorca in the last three years with the introduction of direct flights from New York. Even among the Europeans from Germany, Monaco, Austria or Belgium, the majority are millionaire businessmen looking for a quiet vacation or athletes like Novak Djokovic, who enjoyed the villa during his stay on the island to take part in a tennis tournament. Palumbo predicts booking success this season: “There is a lot of Netflix tourism, people wanting to stay somewhere special or different. And even more so in this house after starring in such a successful series.”