Princess Diana's favourite café risks closure over ‘illegal migrant workers and paying staff in food'
Café Diana, which was named in honour of the former Princess of Wales, could lose its licence, after the Home Office applied for a review, with a hearing set to take place on Thursday.
Diana and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, quickly became regulars at the café, which is near to Kensington Palace in west London, after she made her first visit within days of its opening in 1989.
Café owner, Abdul-Basit Daoudr Daoud, recalled the princess's visits after her death. 'She started coming more often, bringing the kids here sometimes for breakfast. The kids used to take breakfast, like English breakfast. Herself, she used to have cappuccino, cake, some croissants, something like this. But she sometimes had English breakfast too,' he said, according to The Times.
Shortly before she died in 1997, according to the paper, the princess sent a letter to him, reading: 'I wanted to write personally, to thank you so very much for the beautiful flowers you sent for my birthday.'
Café Diana now has dozens of photographs of the princess plastered over its walls, including one given by Diana as a present, and has become a popular tourist spot.
But the business is facing the prospect of having its licence revoked after the Home Office said seven illegal employees were found working there between September 2019 and December 2024, who were from countries such as Egypt and Albania, according to a report published by inspectors from Kensington and Chelsea council.
In interviews, some of these workers claimed they were 'paid in food' rather than money. Inspectors said this 'raises concerns about labour exploitation taking place at the premises', the report added.
It is also alleged that, in May this year, a number of customers were discovered smoking shisha in the basement area of the café. Officers seized 45 unlabelled tubs of shisha tobacco.
Mr Daoud told officers that he oversaw the recruitment process, including checking the right-to-work and immigration status of new employees. He said that members of staff were paid in cash, and admitted that some received free food in exchange for working at the café.
The report stated: 'Café Diana has been found employing illegal workers. This business has clearly failed to meet the prevention of crime and disorder and public safety objectives.'
Previously, the company running the café was ordered to pay a £135,000 civil penalty in April after it was found to illegally be employing three migrants, according to the report.
In a letter to the council, lawyers for Café Diana's owners said: 'Immediately upon becoming aware of the reported issues, the licensee took swift and decisive action to evict the tenant responsible for the unauthorised activities.'
In the report, the café has suggested that a three-month suspension could be implemented, during which time it said it would ensure right-to-work immigration checks are done for all members of staff.
A ruling will be made by the licensing committee of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on Thursday.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Auto Express
6 minutes ago
- Auto Express
The Electric Car Grant has shot the UK car industry in the foot
Talk about a great way to ruin good news. With electric car take-up growing far more slowly than required to hit the Government's ZEV mandate targets, the car industry has been crying out for incentives to help boost interest in what is still very much new tech to most drivers. Advertisement - Article continues below So it's impressive to do what a whole sector has been calling for but still shoot yourself in the foot with a scheme so complicated that no-one understands how it's going to work, or which cars will be eligible, days after it's announced. It's a shambles, or as one senior UK car industry exec put it to me last week, a 'flipping nightmare'. I also hear that the E-mail address that manufacturers need to use to register their cars wasn't even working when the announcement of the scheme went live. Then there's the issue of cars just over the £37,000 threshold, which is oddly close to, yet not the same as the Government's VED expensive-car cut-off of £40k. Brands will be frantically recalculating to see how many of the 15 or so cars within £3,000 of the £37k line could be reduced in price to become eligible. That's if they jump through the required eco hoops to make the cut for £3,750 or £1,500 grants. Renault's Scenic dropped by £200 within 48 hours of the announcement to be a fiver under the threshold. Provided Renault ticks those secret eco boxes. We've ended up with a scheme seemingly designed with what some might see as the noble aim of helping European brands to compete with Chinese rivals under the guise of environmental credentials. It seems – although any level of actual detail or evidence of a full plan from the Department for Transport would be helpful – that the environmental aspect of the grant is designed to increase transparency and encourage more local production. But because the policy apparently wasn't fully formed when it was announced, we don't really know. That causes a ripple through the market. EV purchases dived through the floor in the days following the announcement as buyers wait, potentially for weeks, to see if their prospective new EV gets a whopping discount. So the Government's move to boost EV sales could have harpooned them in the short term. Which is careless. Buy a car with Auto Express. Our nationwide dealer network has some fantastic cars on offer right now with new, used and leasing deals to choose from... Find a car with the experts Range Rover's secret mid-size EV: Inside its £500m factory Range Rover's secret mid-size EV: Inside its £500m factory We take an exclusive look inside JLR's revamped Liverpool site as the brand gears up for EV production Car Deal of the Day: The Audi A3 Saloon may be posh but not at this price Car Deal of the Day: The Audi A3 Saloon may be posh but not at this price It's posh, well appointed, and refined to drive – the Audi A3 Saloon is our Deal of the Day for July 18 Chinese cars will take over as Britain's best sellers Chinese cars will take over as Britain's best sellers With a dramatic rise in sales, Mike Rutherford thinks it's only a matter of time before Chinese cars outsell all other countries in the UK
Auto Express
6 minutes ago
- Auto Express
Car Deal of the Day: this mid-size French SUV is a steal at £188 per month
Comfortable to drive; hybrid power Spacious interior; well equipped Just £188.50 a month Almost overnight, Renault has gone from having hardly any SUVs in its line-up to offering one of broadest range of high-riders in the business. The Renault Symbioz is the newest of the lot and offers pretty much everything a family buyer could want. One of those requirements is value for money. This mid-size SUV is one of the cheapest of the lot right now, even undercutting such family favourites as the Nissan Qashqai. Advertisement - Article continues below Through the Auto Express Find a Car service, is offering the Symbioz for just £188.50 a month, giving you a lot of bang for your buck. It's a two-year deal that requires a £2,611.94 initial payment, while mileage is capped at 5,000 miles a year. Nudging this up to a more flexible 8,000 a year only costs £14.46 extra a month. This deal gets you a Symbioz in Techno trim. It may be the entry-level model, but it's packed with equipment. The standard list of features includes 18-inch alloys, a 10.25-inch digital driver's display and a 10.4-inch touchscreen with an excellent Google operating system. Powering this Symbioz is a full-hybrid system, comprising a 1.6-litre petrol engine and a 1.2kWh battery. It blends performance and frugality very well, giving a smooth and refined driving experience, plus wallet-pleasing fuel economy of more than 61mpg. The Symbioz isn't a thrilling car to drive, but nor should it be. It offers the type of driving experience that's perfectly in-step with its customers' needs: safe, composed and comfortable driving manners. The interior is a nice place to be, too. It's nicely trimmed and well put together, and it's pretty practical. The rear bench slides forwards, opening up more space in the boot – an impressive 624 litres to be precise. The Car Deal of the Day selections we make are taken from our own Auto Express Find A Car deals service, which includes the best current offers from car dealers and leasing companies around the UK. Terms and conditions apply, while prices and offers are subject to change and limited availability. If this deal expires, you can find more top Renault Symbioz leasing offers from leading providers on our Renault Symbioz page. Check out the Renault Symbioz deal or take a look at our previous Car Deal of the Day selection here…
The Independent
6 minutes ago
- The Independent
Average UK house asking price sees steepest monthly drop in 20 years
UK house prices have experienced their sharpest July decline in over two decades, new figures reveal, with the average asking price falling by more than £4,500 this month. Property portal Rightmove reported that the average asking price now stands at £373,709, marking a 1.2 per cent or £4,531 decrease month-on-month. While a seasonal dip in prices is typical for July, this years' drop is the most significant recorded by Rightmove for this time of year across its more than 20 years of data. Rightmove has also cut its house price forecast for 2025 from 4 per cent growth to 2 per cent due to high level of seller competition limiting price growth, it said. Despite this, the property website maintains its prediction of 1.15 million property transactions for the current year. The data indicates that London, particularly inner London, has been a key driver of lower asking prices. Price tags across the capital have seen a 1.5 per cent month-on-month fall, escalating to an average 2.1 per cent decline in inner London. April's increase in stamp duty has had a particular impact in London where property prices are higher, the website added. By contrast, the north east of England has seen a 1.2 per cent increase in prices month-on-month, continuing a trend of less expensive areas seeing faster price growth. With mortgage rates falling and two more Bank of England base rate cuts still expected in 2025, the overall outlook for the second half of the year remains positive, the Rightmove report adds. Many lenders have recently made changes to their criteria, allowing some borrowers to potentially take out bigger loans.r Rightmove's mortgage tracker indicates that the average two-year fixed mortgage rate is 4.53 per cent, compared with 5.34 per cent a year earlier. Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said: 'We're seeing an interesting dynamic between pricing and activity levels right now. 'The healthy and improving level of property sales being agreed shows us that there are motivated buyers out there who are willing to finalise a deal for the right property. 'The decade-high level of buyer choice means that discerning buyers can quickly spot when a home looks overpriced compared to the many others that may be available in their area. Ms Babcock added: 'Crucially, buyer affordability is heading in the right direction, and another two (Bank of England base rate) cuts before 2026 would be a big boost to this.'
