Does the Family Still Live in the Palazzo?
What that means when you visit
It explains most of the building’s peculiarities at once. No lift and no cloakroom, because houses are not built with those. A hang kept to a manuscript of 1767 rather than rearranged by a curator. An audio guide in which the owner talks about roller-skating through these rooms as a child, which no municipal museum could offer you and which is the best thing about the visit — the commentary, and whose voice it is.
The family manages the properties jointly and spends most of its time in Rome. Prince Jonathan and Gesine took guardianship after their mother Princess Orietta died in 2000, and since 2013 the assets have been held by the Doria Pamphilj Trust. The family, from Innocent X onward.
The Private Apartments — Throne Room, Blue Room, Green Room, Yellow Room, Red Room and Venus’ Dressing Room — are reported to have opened to visitors on 1 August 2023. That is a reported date rather than something I can confirm for the day you are coming, so check at the desk if those rooms are the reason you are here.
Separately again, the Secret Apartments — four themed rooms and the Bath of Diana — are run by another body, the Trust Floridi Doria Pamphilj, with their own hours. They are not on the standard gallery route and are booked on their own.
The rooms off the public route
A guided look at the four themed rooms and the Bath of Diana, run separately from the gallery and rated 4.0 from 21 reviews — the lowest score of the six listings on this attraction, and the only way into those rooms. Expectations matter: it is a short visit to four rooms, not a second gallery.
Frequently asked questions
Do the Doria Pamphilj family still live in the palace?
Yes. Prince Jonathan has said in print that he lives in the Palazzo Doria Pamphilj in Rome, and the gallery’s official site describes the piano nobile Private Apartments as still inhabited by the descendants of the family.
Can I visit the part they live in?
The Private Apartments are reported to have opened to the public on 1 August 2023, and the separately managed Secret Apartments are visited on their own booking. Neither is part of the standard gallery route — what that visit covers.
Will I see any of the family?
Almost certainly not in person, but you will hear one of them: Prince Jonathan narrates the audio guide that comes with admission, and he is a discursive host.