From princesses to pop stars, duchesses to divas, kings to knaves, Beauchamp Place is a Mecca for all.

Beauchamp Place truly has something to offer everyone. From those who are fashion conscious, to those who want to enjoy a leisurely lunch at their favourite eaterie, San Lorenzo - possibly the most famous restaurant in the world.

Kirk Douglas and wife outside
San Lorenzo

To list the many celebrities who have been attracted to the street would be a never-ending task. Indeed it is hard to think of another single street in the whole world so beloved by its famous clients. (see photo gallery)

Diana, Princess of Wales, would often take delight in charming startled shopkeepers in the street with a surprise incognito shopping visit after lunch in San Lorenzo.

Diana shopping on Beauchamp Place

Legend has it that the first actual residents of the street, in 1800, were French officers taken prisoner in the Napoleonic war.

As was customary in those days their families in France sent money to support them but as this income dwindled they began trading as patissiers, jewellers, milliners, dressmakers and hairdressers.

As the front rooms of the homes were gradually converted into shops, they created the essentially continental ambience of the street which lingers on through the passing decades.

Whatever the truth in the legend, Beauchamp Place has grown up with a distinctively French flavour to it.

Originally Grove Place, the name changed to Beauchamp (pronounced Beecham) Place in 1885.

Although Beauchamp Place remains as famous, fascinating and fabulous as it has always been, it is surprisingly accessible in this day and age. An oasis of calm and charm, set apart from the hustle and bustle of Knightsbridge, it still has the air of the genuine true-blue English eccentric. As couture designer Bruce Oldfield puts it:

‘You have to make people feel comfortable, Beauchamp Place is user-friendly, my shop is not on the grand scale like Bond Street or Sloane Street’.

Bruce opened in the street in the 1970s but in spite of becoming famous for his Royal commissions, he’s still on hand to meet his clients.

Caroline Charles rented a first floor room in Beauchamp Place in 1965, to run ‘a little couture business’. That ‘little couture business’ expanded internationally, but her heart (and her headquarters) remains firmly in Beauchamp Place. As Caroline Charles explains;

‘The emotional ties with the street are very strong for us – the daughters, their mothers and their mothers before have all found us here’