Why Diana's screen ghost has been laid to rest
Thanks to a new generation of actors, we can't get enough of Diana's story again
It was once the deadliest of roles for an actor, but Princess Diana has turned box office gold thanks to a new generation of stars. So what changed? Kerry took a look for the Sunday Telegraph this week. Here’s an extract:
As Kristen Stewart’s depiction of Diana in the new biopic Spencer receives rave reviews, even if the movie itself doesn’t, Elizabeth Debicki is also about to debut as the princess in the new season of The Crown.
The Australian actor picks up the role for the fifth season of the Netflix series, taking over from Emma Corrin, who went from unknown to Golden Globe winner, thanks to her stand-out performance as young Diana in Season Four.
Diana’s story is being endlessly retold, even on stage in the Broadway show Diana: The Musical, by British actor Jeanna de Waal. Panned on Netflix, de Waal says she’s taking inspiration from her fellow Dianas. “We all got the same homework, and we all have the same sources, but we all do it differently,” she told the New York Times. “There are two million ways you could tell her story.”
Where once Debicki would have been forgiven for having concerns about playing Diana, considering what happened to Naomi Watts, whose career barely recovered after her turn in 2013’s biopic Diana, the role is no longer doomed. “I got seduced by the fantastic character,” Naomi told Harper’s Bazaar. “With risk there is every chance it’s going to fail. If you have to go down with that sinking ship, so be it.”
She joined other actors who foundered in the treacherous waters, including Kristen Scott Thomas’ sister Serena in 1993’s Diana: Her True Story, which was described as “so bad it’s painful to watch”, Julie Cox in 1996 TV movie Princess in Love and Genevieve O’Reilly in 2007’s docudrama Diana: Last Days of a Princess.
But everything changed when Emma Corrin began – and not ended – her career, playing Diana in The Crown, followed by Kristen Stewart in Spencer. “Stewart pours all of herself into the role that could yield her first Oscar nomination,” says Variety.
So, what’s different - the actors, the scripts, or time? Behavioural scientist Juliette Tobias-Webb says the distance of years has reduced our response, combined with cultural shifts and a change of perception. It is 24 years since Diana died, meaning whole new generations – including some of the actors who have played her – have grown up without knowing her story and the one they’re being told is very different.
“As our emotions decrease in intensity over time, the differences between the experience and their feelings are reduced,” she says. “Now people may feel the cultural context is remembering and respecting her, rather than trying to find faults,” she says – even if it’s not all true. “Reconstructive theories suggest as people recall events, it is distorted by their world knowledge and new knowledge. People are then less critical of the current coverage because they are misremembering the events or the differences in the portrayal of events.”
The Queen faces her anniversary alone
It was a poignant week for the Queen as she resumed light royal duties but also marked her first wedding anniversary on Saturday, without Prince Philip at her side. The milestone comes seven months after the duke died in April, aged 99, and exactly a month since the Queen was admitted to hospital overnight and ordered to take an extended rest by doctors.
The then Princess Elizabeth married Philip at Westminster Abbey on November 20, 1947, and this year’s anniversary would have seen the couple celebrating 74 years of married life.
On a happier note, three days after a sprained back saw her missing the Remembrance service at the Cenotaph, the Queen was back on her feet this Wednesday, holding her first face-to-face audience with the outgoing Chief of the Defence staff, Sir Nick Carter. Although, it’s fair to say they were both upstaged by Candy, the dorgi, in Windsor Castle’s Oak room. See it here.
She is also said to be determined to attend the joint christenings of two of her great-grandchildren. Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank, along with Zara and Mike Tindall are christening their sons, August and Lucas, at All Saints Chapel in Windsor Great Park today. Both babies share Philip as their middle name - a touching tribute to the Queen’s beloved husband.
Kate on sparkling form again
The Duchess of Cambridge was more like the Duchess of Dazzle as she and William ticked all the glamour boxes at the Royal Variety Performance show on Thursday evening. Catherine sparkled in an emerald gown by Jenny Packham, first seen during the couple's tour of Pakistan in 2019.
Catherine outshone all comers at the Albert Hall – just as she did back in September in another Jenny Packham gold dress at the same venue for the No Time To Die Bond premiere. But it wasn’t only her amazing frock that rocked, her stunning new side-swept wavy hairstyle was a winner too, along with those eyecatching Missoma earrings. Meanwhile, William made a stylish statement in a blue velvet tux.
Joining them in the royal box were her parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, along with her brother James and new sister-in-law, Alizee Thevenet. Proving that stylish genes definitely run in the family.
Meghan’s prank turn on Ellen
Meanwhile, Meghan Duchess of Sussex showed her fun side on Ellen on Thursday, chatting to the talk-show host and neighbour about everything from Lilibet teething to showing a new photo of Archie feeding the chickens at their Montecito home.
Meghan accepted a prank challenge from Ellen and proceeded to eat hot sauce, call herself Mommy, wear cat ears and sing a “mew mew kitten” song, in front of an “unsuspecting” food vendor.
The duchess revealed she’s cooking Thanksgiving dinner this week and while the pair will not be spending Christmas in the palace, Kerry wondered whether next year she and Harry will have the in-laws over to theirs - well, you never know...
Read Kerry’s tongue-in-cheek column for The Sunday Telegraph, here.
Dominic West Crowns his son
Talk about the line of succession - according to Variety this week, Dominic West is keeping it in the family in next season’s The Crown. The Netflix series has cast Senan West to play Prince William to his father’s Prince Charles.
The publication reported that Senan auditioned by tape like other hopefuls, after a long search by the production company. Senan, 13, will play teenage William in Season Five. The prince was 15 when his mother Diana died in August 1997.
As well as Senan, Dominic is father to Dora, 15, Francis, 12, and Christabel, five, with wife Catherine FitzGerald plus Martha, 23, with former partner Polly Astor. Martha has also appeared on-screen with Dad, in The Pursuit of Love.