The Princess

You may feel there have been rather enough documentaries or dramas about (or even riffs on the life of) Diana, Princess of Wales, and perhaps you are right. Ed Perkins doc, though, may prove to be the only one you’ll ever need. Told (à la Senna, Amy or Diego Maradona) entirely through contemporaneous footage (from the first speculation surrounding Diana’s budding relationship with Prince Charles in 1981, to her funeral in September 1997) it’s the familiar tragic tale of a terrible marriage lived out in full public glare. But to see it all together, laid out as it happened (or, rather, how the media chose to present it as it happened) and in the context of what we now know, it is almost confronting to be forced to consider our own judgements and what informed them. The film is also a fascinating glimpse into a country and its relationship with its ‘People’s Princess’, its wider Royal Family and their (and our) relationship with the media, and although much has changed since then (thankfully, it is hard to imagine reporting such as “Her father, her uncle Lord Fermoy and others… have all vouched for her virginity” these days) much has not. Fascinating, and chilling.

Rod White

From the Academy Award and Emmy-winning producers of MAN ON WIRE, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN and LA 92 and the Academy Award nominated director of BLACK SHEEP and TELL ME WHO I AM..

This film contains flickering or flashing lights that may affect those with photosensitive epilepsy.