Sightseeing in Diana's London

From the shops along Kings Road she frequented as a young "Sloane Ranger" to her funeral at Westminster Abbey, London is dotted with places connected to Diana. The city is also home to two major permanent memorials.

Each listing below includes the nearest subway station; officially the subway is called the London Underground but it's known by its nickname, "The Tube."

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain

Opened in July 2004 in Hyde Park, the moat-like circular stream is meant to convey Diana's openness. It was closed a month later following three injuries and reopened with more safeguards. Hyde Park, south end, just east of West Carriage Drive. Tube: Knightsbridge.

Diana Memorial Playground

The popular playground near the Queensway Underground station predates Diana's time at Kensington Palace, but has been revamped and upgraded to honor her love of children. Kensington Gardens, near Black Lion Gate off Bayswater Road. Tube: Queensway.

Buckingham Palace

Where Prince Charles proposed to Diana in February 1981 and where they embraced on the balcony to the roar of the crowd after their July 1981 wedding. West end of The Mall. Tube: Victoria.

Kensington Palace

Diana moved into the palace in 1981 as a newlywed in love. She lived there for most of the next 16 years as the marriage became cold. Even after she and Charles divorced, she retained apartments in the palace where she lived with her children, William and Harry. After her death, the gilded gates of the palace were the site of the huge outpouring of grief and flowers. Tube: Queensway.

St. James's Palace

Charles' official residence. It's where Diana's body lay in repose after its return from Paris. Tube: Green Park.

St. Paul's Cathedral

The church in the heart of "The City" survived World War II bombs. It is where Charles and Diana exchanged vows in what the media called "the wedding of the century." Tube: St. Paul's.

Westminster Abbey

The ancient church of royalty, next to Parliament, is where the nation's most solemn services are held. Diana's September 1997 funeral was held here, in a space surrounded by the tombs of and memorials to centuries of kings and queens. Tube: Westminster.

Hyde Park

London's most famous park has several links to Diana. It's where her ill-fated affair with army officer James Hewitt began, during riding instruction on the horse paths. The memorial fountain dedicated to Diana is on the south end of the park. At Hyde Park Corner is the Queen Mother's Arch. Diana would have one day been queen mother if she had outlived Charles and one of her sons became king. Tube: Hyde Park Corner or Marble Arch.

Sloane Square and Kings Road

During her short stint as a bachelorette, Diana was one of the "Sloane Rangers" who enjoyed shopping and partying in this southwest London neighborhood. One of her favorites was the General Trading Co., where Diana later would register for her wedding to Charles.

Diana had her wedding dress designed by Emanuel, the husband-and-wife team whose shop is just off Kings Road. After her engagement, she shopped at Bruce Oldfield's store in Beauchamp Place. Tube: Sloane Square.

Harrods

A regular shopping spot of Diana's even before she met Dodi al-Fayed, heir to the family empire that includes the shopping mecca with the Victorian facade. In her earlier days, Diana preferred the trendier Harvey Nichols store near Hyde Park Corner. Harrods once prominently displayed its "royal warrants" — symbols that the royal family purchased goods from the store. Mohamed al-Fayed, Dodi's father, has claimed there was a government conspiracy to kill Diana and Dodi and removed the warrants in 2000. There are two memorials to Diana and Dodi at Harrods. 87-135 Brompton Road. Tube: Knightsbridge.

Fortnum & Mason

The store's beautiful but informal Fountain Restaurant was one of Diana's favorite spots in her pre-royal days for afternoon tea with friends. 181 Piccadilly. Tube: Piccadilly Circus.

Oxford Street

Diana made her public debut as a royal in late 1981, turning on the Christmas lights on Oxford Street. She had been a regular at the huge Selfridges department store and other high-end shopping spots. Tube: Oxford Circus.

St. Mary's Hospital

In an early break with the stuffy royal family, Diana decided to give birth to her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, at the hospital near Paddington Station. They were the first royals to be born outside of a palace. (Charles was born in a specially modified bathroom at Buckingham Palace.) Praed Street. Tube: Paddington Station.

Apsley House

Across Park Lane from Hyde Park, this columned mansion once owned by the Duke of Wellington (who defeated Napoleon at Waterloo) was where Prince Charles' paramour, Camilla Parker Bowles (now his second wife), once lived. Tube: Hyde Park Corner.

Dorchester Hotel

Princess Diana's last lover, Dodi al-Fayed, had apartments in the five-star hotel, where he would enjoy private dinners with Diana. Park Lane. Tube: Hyde Park Corner.

Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children:

One of Diana's earliest and most consistently supported charities. Great Ormond Street. Tube: Russell Square.

Beyond London

Balmoral Castle, the royal family's Highlands home in Scotland, is where Charles romanced Diana. The royal family was at Balmoral when it received news of Diana's death and was widely criticized for waiting too long to return to London. It's possible to rent cottages on the property; www.balmoralcastle.com. Charles would often escape to Highgrove, his beloved country estate in Gloucestershire. It was a place of pleasure early in the marriage and of division before the divorce. Limited public visits can be arranged by making a mail request to: The Prince of Wales Office, St James's Palace; London, UK; SW1A 1AA.