If you’re old like me, you won’t learn much new about Princess Diana herself. But the new documentary, released just weeks before the 25th anniversary of her tragic death will show you what the years between 1981 until 1997 meant to the rest of us around the world.
Told pretty much entirely through news casts, public appearance clips, and some old interview snippets, the film, directed by Ed Perkins, means to take you not so much behind-the-scenes as it does into-the crowds. She was a Rock Star long before we started using that title to refer to folks who are not literally Rock Stars.
Just looks at the Royal Wedding in 1981. My God, we were watching every moment from 5,277 miles away at our house. This part of the film is well-represented – of course, there was an abundance of footage from which to work. The thing that struck me over and over was how much the ordinary British citizens loved her and how proud – I really mean it, proud to be Britons at that moment in time.
I’ll admit it – I think the semi-fictional series The Crown did a much more through job of getting inside the loveless marriage between Charles and Di, which ended in a years long separation, followed by divorce before her death.
Don’t laugh – several of the Royals are on the record having watched it, including Queen Elizabeth:
“Her Majesty has seen the series and enjoyed it,” said one Palace insider. “She appreciates Mr. Morgan’s attention to detail and respect for history, but she’s also felt some of the events in the series have been a bit over the top.”
But back to The Princess
While I enjoyed a lot of the trip down memory lane, it felt very much like a Greatest Hits package. – skimming over things I’d like to have known. Also, Charles is unfairly played as a one-dimensional jerk, and we know that it was more complicated than that.
And then there is the film’s commentary (again, only using found footage) of her horrible death on August 31st, 1997 – as she and her lover and a reportedly drunk chauffeur were feeling from aggressive paparazzi in Paris. Another reminder of where we were on that day – no matter the distance.
The film righteously condemns the hounding British tabloids and the psychological effect that it had on Diana, but then again, you think of those working people happily buying up every available copy each day at the newsstands. So, which came first? The paparazzi bastards or the proud folks who supported their work? It’s a question the film makes one ponder. By no means is this film all sunshine and rainbows.
Bottom Line
If you’re over 45 or 50, you’ll get some interesting sensory pops, as the film goes in chronological order, and jogs your faded memories. But you will feel like you just peeked through a partially shut window.
And if you’re younger, I really do recommend The Crown as sort of a primer that will surely make you appreciate The Princess a bit more.
Currently Streaming on HBO Max
