House fit for a princess

If you’re in the market for some real estate — and have millions of dollars to spare — you’re in for a royal treat. The Bahamas home where Princess Diana stayed with her sons in 1993 is on the market for US$12.5 million, through Christie’s International Real Estate.

Dubbed Casuarina Beach, the residence boasts five bedrooms, a pool, terrace, courtyard and 180 feet (55 metres) of private whitesand frontage.

The 4,492-square-foot (1,369-square-metre) house is in the gated community of Lyford Cay, found on the western tip of New Providence Island.

It was designed in 1969 by mid-century modernist architect Robertson (Happy) Ward and renovated in 2009 with a new kitchen, bathrooms, flooring, wiring and plumbing.

When Princess Diana visited in 1993, she was a guest of Kate Menzies, of the Menzies newsagent family. The stay in the Bahamas followed a stopover in Florida, where the princess, her sons and their friends had spent two days at Walt Disney World and visited the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

The princess’s protection officer Ken Wharfe wrote about the visit to Casuarina Beach in his 2017 book, Guarding Diana: Protecting the Princess Around the World.