Italian restaurant frequented by Princess Diana threatened by noise complaint

Famous faces are rallying in support of an Italian restaurant once frequented by Princess Diana as its licence has come under threat.

La Famiglia, an Italian restaurant running in the heart of Chelsea for five decades, has been in a dispute with a neighbour over noise complaints since February last year, which now threatens to close its garden early.

The restaurant, renowned for its Tuscan dishes, is also known for its royal connections – Princess Diana reportedly took Prince William for lunch at La Famiglia in one of their final public appearances together.

A neighbour renting a home that overlooks the restaurant’s garden has complained of being disturbed by voices, laughter, occasional shouting, the noise of cutlery and glassware and service noise.

The bedrooms in Franceso Perticarari’s home are approximately four metres from the garden canopy, according to a licence review application filed to the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea. He said the disturbance was affecting his family’s sleep “and the peace and quiet of their home.”

Mr Perticarari has complained numerous times, adding that officer attendances and warnings and an Abatement Notice served by the Council’s Noise and Nuisance Team which had not resolved the issue.

He said that as well as noise between 10pm and midnight, the disturbance started again around 7am. As his family is expecting another child who will sleep in a rear bedroom of the house, he warned that the baby risked being exposed to the same noise.

Mr Perticarari has asked for the licence on the garden to be restricted from 9am to 9pm, rather than midnight, from Monday to Saturday and then to 8pm, rather than 11.30pm, on Sundays.

The council has received 247 letters in response to the challenge of the premise’s licence with the likes of guitarist Eric Clapton and Bryan Ferry supporting the restaurant.

Clapton said, on behalf of his family, that the restaurant was an “indispensable pillar of our local community and a cherished piece of Chelsea's heritage”

”Over the decades, our family has celebrated countless birthdays, major milestones, and special occasions here, making it a central part of our family history,” he said. “We are deeply concerned by the application to restrict the use of the terrace garden. Halving the capacity of this historic venue would severely threaten its financial viability. We have watched too many independent, family-run establishments disappear from our neighbourhood, and we cannot stand by and let La Famiglia suffer the same fate.”

Ferry, a patron of the restaurant for 30 years, said: “My visits to La Famiglia are always a pleasant experience. The management is good, the waiters are professional, and the service is efficient. Most of all, the clientele is respectful and appropriately behaved. I have never encountered an incidence of loud, disrespectful guests who would harm the restaurant's image and neighbours' peace.

“If such behaviour did ever occur, I would have full faith in the management to deal with the situation and minimise disruption to the neighbours accordingly.”

Made in Chelsea star Rosie Fortescue, a client of the restaurant for more than five years, said that she had never noticed any rowdy behaviour while dining in the garden.

“It does seem odd that this new renter has complained to the council when the owner/s of the house he is renting from have not to the best of our knowledge. Who knows how long this renter is even going to live there and they could be gone tomorrow,” she said.

Philip Richardson of the Council’s Environmental Health’s Noise and Nuisance Team said that prior to 2025, the premises had “operated as a restaurant with an outside dining area for many years” and had done so “with minimal complaints”.

Nevertheless, he supported the resident’s application for review of the premises licence on the grounds of the prevention of public nuisance. While visiting in July, he observed that the noise in the child’s second-floor bedroom was so loud that she was “awake, tearful, and unable to sleep.” A fixed penalty notice was issued.

Mr Perticarari complained to the council at the end of August: “The restaurant is really loud tonight and it’s as always late. We struggle to sleep. We barely managed to make our daughter go to bed just now.”

A hearing to review La Famiglia’s licence will be heard next Tuesday at 10am by the borough’s licensing sub-committee.

The Independent has contacted La Famiglia and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea for comment.