Real Estate

‘Aristo-flats’ where Camilla romanced Charles to be demolished


The Belgravia apartments where Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall are said to have started their long romance is to be demolished in one of the exclusive area’s biggest redevelopments in decades.

The Duke of Westminster’s property company Grosvenor plans to knock down the four Cundy Street blocks of private gated flats, as well as a separate building occupied by council tenants.

The seven-storey blocks were built on a V2 Second World War bombsite near Victoria station in the early Fifties. 

In 1972, 25-year-old Camilla Shand invited Charles back for coffee to her two-bedroom flat at Cundy Street’s Stack House in the early hours after an evening at Annabel’s night club in Mayfair.

She shared the flat with the former foreign secretary Lord Carrington’s daughter Virginia, who later became her assistant at St James’s Palace.

It was one of several occupied by the “Cundy Street set” of aristocratic residents, who also included Lady Penelope Cobham, who used her apartment for liaisons with former Tory Cabinet minister David Mellor.

Grosvenor bosses want to create a new “residential-led” neighbourhood with shops, restaurants and affordable housing to be called the Cundy Street Quarter. It is likely to include a series of “mansion blocks” and courtyards. 

The leases in the 111 Cundy Street flats in the Lochmore House, Laxford House, Kylestrome House and Stack House blocks end in 2021, when work would begin on the first phase of the scheme. 

There are also another 40 homes in the Westminster council-managed block Walden House. 

Architects DSDHA have been hired to draw up a masterplan this summer after an exhibition starting tomorrow and a local consultation.

It is a rare chance for Grosvenor to bring large-scale change to Belgravia, which has more than 1,500 listed buildings.

Paul O’Grady, location director at Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, said: “Our ambition is to create a new inclusive neighbourhood that meets the needs of residents and businesses today whilst ensuring that it respects the area’s heritage and will stand the test of time.

“Through a sensitive but comprehensive development, we can deliver a significant increase in much-needed housing for Westminster and more affordable homes as well as consider new uses like senior living.”



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