Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground stands in Kensington Gardens, a royal park in west London. It occupies the north-west corner of the gardens, close to Kensington Palace where the Princess once lived. The playground replaced an earlier Peter Pan children’s area founded in the time of J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. LUC (Land Use Consultants) designed the new space, drawing on Barrie’s story for its themes. A full-scale wooden pirate ship forms the centrepiece, surrounded by sand for play. Slides, swings and a disability-friendly area with fragrant plants and sound features complete the original layout. The playground closed in October 2025 for a £3 million refurbishment by the Royal Parks. It reopened on 5 August 2026 with a new 17-metre wooden galleon built from mountain larch in Germany. A treehouse, redesigned water play area and a zone for under-threes were added. Accessibility was improved with wheelchair-friendly equipment, an accessible path and raised sand and water tables. Sensory planting and upgraded musical features now enrich the space, and rainwater is collected for irrigation. Visitors find a lively playground set among mature trees in Kensington Gardens. The galleon’s tall masts and rigging invite climbing, while the sand pit and water channels encourage imaginative play. The under-threes zone keeps younger children safe, and the accessible path allows everyone to move easily through the site. Sensory gardens release scents and sounds, and musical instruments invite experimentation. The playground remains a place where children test their skills against a backdrop of London’s royal parkland.