Inside Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s ‘Palace of Secrets’: New York’s Carlyle hotel, where Princess Diana once shared a lift with Michael Jackson and Steve Jobs
If lift walls could talk, they would have stories to tell about the Carlyle hotel. But you certainly wouldn’t hear them from staff.
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Built in 1930 and located on the corner of Madison Avenue and 76th Street on the Upper East Side, the Carlyle Hotel has earned a reputation as a hideout for royalty, politicians and celebrities.
Carlyle Hotel staff are famously close-lipped about what goes on inside the hotel walls, leading to The New York Times giving the 188-room hotel its famous nickname.
In 2018, a documentary called Always the Carlyle by Matthew Miele revealed never-before-shared stories of some of the hotel’s most distinguished guests, one of whom was Princess Diana.
As her marriage to Prince Charles dissolved leading up to their divorce in 1996, she took more solo trips to the city, often staying at the Carlyle.
During one her stays, Princess Diana joined “the most famous elevator ride in history”, journalist Piers Morgan told producers of Always at the Carlyle.
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Diana frequented the 1,800-sq-ft Royal Suite on the 22nd floor, which today is one of the hotel’s most requested rooms, Carlyle Hotel communications director Jennifer Cooke said.
The two-bedroom suite is currently under renovation, but it previously rented for US$8,000 per night, Architectural Digest reported in 2016.
Following in Diana’s footsteps, Prince William and Kate Middleton stayed at the hotel during a trip to New York City in 2014.
Cooke overheard Prince William say in the lobby that he had heard a lot about the hotel over the years. “The duke and duchess I think definitely stayed here at the Carlyle because Princess Diana used to stay here,” she said in the documentary.
In September 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle checked into the Upper East Side hotel. Though, according to Page Six, they aren’t staying in the Royal Suite like their family members have.
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In addition to foreign dignitaries, every US president since Truman has visited the Carlyle, the hotel writes on its website.
Kennedy owned a flat on the 34th floor for the decade leading up to his death in 1963, which became known as his “winter White House”, according to the New York Post.
Marilyn Monroe is rumoured to have slipped past paparazzi through a tunnel into the Carlyle for a rendezvous with Kennedy, but the story and existence of the tunnel have never been publicly confirmed.
Contemporary guests of the hotel include George and Amal Clooney, Vera Wang, Jack Nicholson, Naomi Campbell, Wes Anderson, Lenny Kravitz, Roger Federer and Bill Murray, all of whom appear in the documentary.
The hotel’s prices certainly cater to celebrity clientele. Rates start at US$525 per night for a 360-sq-ft deluxe twin bedroom …
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… and rise to five digits. The two-storey Empire Suite that overlooks Central Park goes for US$20,000 per night, Cooke said.
George and Amal Clooney once stayed in the Empire Suite for three months.
Suites were renovated in 2019 to include murals of Central Park and curated art collections. Perks for VIP and repeat guests include custom pillowcases with their initials monogrammed in gold thread.
“You get what you pay for,” Carlyle guest and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said of Carlyle suite prices in Always at the Carlyle.
Model Naomi Campbell recalls that her floor at the Carlyle was “banging” after the 2016 Met Gala.
“It was the best floor ever. It was me in one corner, Rihanna in one corner, Stella McCartney in another corner and Cara Delevingne in the other. You can imagine what time that floor went to bed,” she said in the documentary.
The historic Bemelmans Bar, lined with murals drawn by Madeline artist and creator Ludwig Bemelmans, has also hosted creative stars.
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The whimsical space was “one of the biggest inspirations” for Anderson’s 2014 film The Grand Budapest Hotel, he told Always at the Carlyle producers.
At Cafe Carlyle, the hotel’s supper club, Woody Allen regularly appears to play his clarinet with the Eddy Davis New Orleans jazz band. Both Bemelmans and the cafe are closed until further notice due to Covid-19.
While Always at the Carlyle shed light on the hotel’s inner workings through interviews with guests, it remains a private place for a discerning clientele.
Many hotel employees have worked at the hotel for decades and refuse to share details about specific conversations with guests.
“We don’t talk about our guests,” one employee said at the beginning of the documentary. “Whatever happens here, stays here,” said another.
- So nicknamed for its privacy, the hotel has hosted royals like Prince William and Kate Middleton, US presidents, and celebrities from Roger Federer to Naomi Campbell
- Met Gala and Tonys after-parties have spilled into its lounges and bars, and the historic Bemelmans Bar even inspired Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel