Diana was just 18 when her parents splashed out on the stunning three-bedroom apartment in a Knightsbridge mansion block, as a very pricey coming-of-age present.
According to Diana, In Her Own Words, by Andrew Morton, Diana looked back on her days there as "the happiest time of her life".
“It was juvenile, innocent, uncomplicated and above all fun.
“'I laughed my head off there’ she said.”
The future princess even had a cheeky sign above her bedroom door which said: "Chief Chick.”
The pad, 60 Coleherne Court, cost £50,000, when it was secured for Diana by her sister Sarah, who worked at estate agent Savills in July 1979.
Princess Diana was hugely excited to move into the pad, and was joined by school friend Carolyn Bartholomew.
The pair were initially joined by pals Sophie Kimball and Philippa Coaker, but during her courtship of Prince Charles, the pair lived with Anne Bolton and Virginia Pitman.
Princess Diana charged the girls just £18 a week to stay in the flat, and she is said to have organised strict cleaning rotas.
As soon as she moved into the flat, Princess Diana is said to have furnished the rooms into a “warm but simple Habitat style that was popular at the time.”
According to Andrew, Carolyn said: “She always had the rubber gloves on as she clucked about the place.
“But it was her house and when it is your own you are incredibly proud of it.”
The girls are said to have rarely cooked in the apartment, so Diana certainly didn’t have to worry about piles of dirty plates piling up.
Despite the fact that Virginia and Diana had completed expensive Cordon Bleu courses, the housemates tended to live off Harvest Crunch cereal and chocolate.
When she was cooking, Princess Diana’s specialties included a chocolate roulade and a Russian borscht soup, which were often requested by friends.
Despite her luxury surroundings, life in the apartment was relatively normal for Diana.
She worked at a nursery in Pimlico and was said to be “truly in her element.”
Her job was at the Young England kindergarten, ran by Victoria Wilson and Kay Seth-Smith in the St Saviour’s church hall.
Princess Diana spent her afternoons teaching the kids how to paint, draw, dance and play games.
She is said to have got on so well with the children that she was asked to work the mornings too, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays she looked after a child called Patrick Robinson, who was the son of an oil executive, and a student she “adored.”
Although Charles and Diana met when she was 16 in November 1977, when he was dating her older sister Lady Sarah, it wasn’t until 1980 at a polo game when they started seeing each other romantically.
Prince Charles proposed in February 1981 and they were engaged in July of that year.
When she tied the knot with Prince Charles, she became the first royal bride to ever have a paying job before marrying an heir.
Later, Kate Middleton would become the first royal bride to have a university degree.
Princess Diana lived in the flat until the night before her engagement to Prince Charles was officially announced.
She left the girls and her pad to move into Clarence House, where the Queen Mother lived.
Following her July wedding, Diana’s mum Frances Shand Kydd sold the flat to Japanese buyers for £100,000, which was double what she paid for it.
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