Is Diana the deadliest role?
With Emma Corrin receiving rave reviews for The Crown, could she have finally lifted the princess's screen curse?
The Times calls Corrin “a tour de force” and the best actor in the series, but it hasn’t always been so. “Many top actresses think playing Diana will harm their career,” royal biographer Ingrid Seward says. With Australian Elizabeth Debicki poised to take over as Diana in series five, as well as Kristen Stewart cast as the princess in the upcoming movie Spencer, Kerry takes a look at some of the other actors to take on the role, in today’s Sunday Telegraph.
Naomi Watts: We had high hopes for 2013’s movie Diana, which followed the last months of Diana’s life. Naomi gave it her all, but even her acting skills couldn’t save this film, which proved to be a spectacular box office flop.
Serena Scott Thomas: Kristin’s younger sister no doubt hoped the 1993 TV movie Diana: Her True Story would be her big break. It wasn’t. She later appeared as Carole Middleton in the 2011 TV movie William & Kate.
Julie Cox: Broadchurch’s Julie Cox played the princess in the 1996 TV movie Princess in Love, based on Anna Pasternak’s book of the same name, outlining Captain James Hewitt’s alleged affair with Diana.
Genevieve O’Reilly: Another Aussie who took on the royal role was Star Wars actor Genevieve O’Reilly, who played Diana in 2007’s TV docudrama Diana: Last Days of a Princess. She came out fairly unscathed.
Caroline Bliss: A year after Charles and Diana’s 1981 wedding, came schmaltzy TV movie Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story, starring a young Caroline Bliss in her first major role. She went on to star as Miss Moneypenny in Bond movies.
Amy Seccombe: The TV movie Diana: A Tribute to the People’s Princess came out in 1998, a year after Diana died. Telling the story of her last year of life, theatre actor Amy Seccombe played the princess, but it didn’t lead anywhere.
Jeanna de Waal: Diana, A True Musical Story was scheduled to open on Broadway this year with Jeanna de Waal playing the princess. Postponed because of lockdown, the musical will debut next year and be shown on Netflix.
Diana’s Panorama scandal
It’s the interview that rocked the monarchy. And 25 years on, it’s still causing problems, this time for the BBC and Martin Bashir, who conducted the chat, where Diana said, “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded.”
Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, has accused Bashir of ensnaring himself and Diana with outlandish claims, including Prince William had a recording device on his watch to spy on his mother. He says Bashir handed him faked bank statements apparently showing two courtiers were being paid by security services for information on Diana.
The BBC did an investigation into the faked documents in 1996, but concluded they had no bearing on the outcome of the interview. The graphic designer behind the statements, Matt Wiessler, told documentary The Diana Interview: Revenge Of A Princess, he thought he was making film props. “I want to clear my name. I quite clearly felt that I was the one that was going to be the fall guy in this story,” he says.
The Earl is calling for an investigation and the BBC has promised a “robust inquiry” with “appropriate independence”.
Bashir, 57, has been signed off sick with Covid and according to reports, is “unlikely to work for the BBC again,” allegedly texting colleagues, “it is a tragic way to retire.”
Harry’s comedy debut
Let’s face it, until Meghan and marriage brought out his serious side, Prince Harry was always the joker in the royal pack, the preternaturally funny prince was the perfect foil to his more guarded older brother. Well, we hope he’s been practising his dad jokes on Archie because this Wednesday 18th November, Harry is taking part in the 14th Stand Up for Heroes, a virtual comedy fundraiser for veterans in the States.
Underlining the fact Harry is now, if not the (fresh) Prince of Bel-Air (surely missed a trick moving to Montecito) then at least this week he’ll be clown Prince of Hollywood, when he joins host Jon Stewart and stars including Bruce Springsteen and Sheryl Crow for the event, which will be broadcast online for the first time. The annual charity initiative raises money for the Bob Woodruff Foundation, which aims “to create healthy, positive futures for our service members, veterans, and their families.” It starts at 9pm, EST (USA), or 2am UK time. Anyone still up then can watch it here.
As an ex-serviceman and founder of the Invictus Games, the forces are very close to Harry’s heart. Last week he paid tribute to the fallen at Los Angeles National Cemetery, with Meghan, placing flowers picked from their garden on the graves of two Commonwealth soldiers and a wreath at an obelisk. “To all of those who have served, and are serving. Thank you,” said Harry’s message on the wreath. According to The Times, he had requested a wreath be laid in his name at this year’s Whitehall Cenotaph service but his request was denied.
Kate locks down her style
She might be in lockdown with the rest of the UK, but that hasn’t stopped the Duchess of Cambridge with her Zoom wardrobe winners. This week Kate pulled off another ‘where-can-I-buy-that-fast’ perfect video call look with her ivory satin blouse with Peter Pan collar from Ghost. Big collar energy is one of the key trends of 2020.
She wore the blouse on Remembrance Day (along with a supersized poppy and gold hoop earrings with hanging pearls from Accessorize), while talking to Armed Forces families who have lost loved ones. The Kate effect has already worked its shopping magic and the £79 blouse has sold out. Never fear (we’ve checked) there are similar buys on Ghost’s website, and others collaring this style trend are John Lewis and Zara.
Meanwhile, another royal unexpectedly threatening Kate’s style crown is Prince Charles. This week her father-in-law and eco warrior launched his very own sustainable fashion line for men and women. His charity, the Prince’s Foundation, worked with Yoox Net-a-Porter and a group of students from Italy and the UK to celebrate their high-end textile skills. The 18-piece capsule collection called The Modern Artisan project is available here. FYI, critics are moaning about the princely price tags, but think of them as forever buys that’ll keep on giving.
A very royal romance
Their marriage might be record-breaking, but don’t expect The Queen and Prince Philip to make much fuss. Friday November 20, marks 73 years since the Queen married Prince Philip - the longest-married British monarchs in history. This year the pair will be together in Windsor Castle, where they will celebrate quietly.
It was a different story in 1947 when 21-year-old Princess Elizabeth walked down the aisle at Westminster Abbey to wed the dashing 26-year-old Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten. The world needed a party to lift its post war gloom. Rationing was still in force and the Queen had to use coupons to pay for the material for her modest Norman Hartnell gown. Even her wedding cake was made with ingredients sent across the world from the Australian Girl Guides.
They were the glamour couple of their day – Elizabeth had first set eyes on Philip in 1939 when she was just 13 and fallen for the handsome 18-year-old who charmed her by leaping over tennis nets. They married eight years later in a ceremony listened to on radio by 200 million people. It was the first time cameras were allowed in the Abbey and the wedding film was shown in cinemas all over the world.
With 2000 guests, the couple received 2,500 wedding presents – so many that they went on display in St James’s Palace. They honeymooned in Balmoral, the Queen’s corgi Susan making three. Read more wedding facts here.
Prince Philip became the Queen’s consort, pledging, “I, Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, do become your liege man of life and limb, and of earthly worship; and faith and truth I will bear unto you, to live and die, against all manner of folks.” And that he did until 2017 when he finally retired, aged 96.
“He has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years,” the Queen said on their Golden Wedding, “and I, and his whole family, and this, and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.”