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.
Source: The Carlyle Hotel
Carlyle Hotel staff are famously close-lipped about what goes on inside the hotel walls. The New York Times once called the 188-room hotel the “Palace of Secrets” for the privacy it affords its guests.
Source: New York Times
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.
Source: Always at the Carlyle
Diana first visited New York City on a three-day solo tour in February 1989, a moment which appears in season four of “The Crown.”
Source: Insider
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.”
Source: Always at the Carlyle
Her fellow riders? Steve Jobs and Michael Jackson. The power trio was “completely silent” until Diana started singing Jackson’s 1982 hit song “Beat It,” Morgan said.
Source: Always at the Carlyle
The two-bedroom suite is currently under renovation, but it previously rented for $8,000 per night, Architectural Digest reported in 2016.
Source: Architectural Digest
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 this in the documentary.
Source: Always at the Carlyle
In September 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle checked into the Upper East Side hotel. According to Page Six, the couple is not staying in the Royal Suite as their family members.
Source: Page Six
Kennedy owned an apartment 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.
Source: New York Post
Marilyn Monroe is rumored 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.
Source: Always at the Carlyle
Contemporary guests of the hotel include George and Amal Clooney, Vera Wang, Jack Nicholson, Bill Murray, Naomi Campbell, Wes Anderson, Lenny Kravitz, Roger Federer, and Bill Murray, all of whom appear in the documentary.
Source: Always at the Carlyle
… and rise to five digits. Cooke said that the two-story Empire Suite overlooking Central Park costs $20,000 per night.
Source: The Carlyle Hotel
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.
Source: Always at the Carlyle