THE PRINCESS
****
Director: Ed Perkins
Screenplay: Ed Perkins (uncredited)
Principal cast (all archive footage):
Princess Diana
Prince Charles
Queen Elizabeth II
Camilla Parker-Bowles
Prince Philip
Princess Anne
Country: UK/USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 109 mins.
Australian release date: 11 August 2020.
It’s almost 25 years since the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales (as she was then known) on 31 August 1997 and, to this day, her premature demise remains a source of grief for her admirers; even those who hold cynical views about the royal family concede that her death was tragic. Thus, it is not surprising that this new documentary, The Princess, directed by Ed Perkins and produced by the Academy Award-winning team behind Man on Wire and Searching for Sugar Man, has taken a fresh look at her life and marriage and the hysteria surrounding it. Using only contemporaneous archival footage, and no narration, it unfolds like a dramatic movie.
The opening moments of shaky, home-video footage taken outside the Ritz Hotel in Paris (filmed by Aussie tourists) capture the chaotic scene as a crush of people wait for the princess and her companion Dodi Al Fayed to depart the plush auberge. When the pair emerge, they set off pursued by a pack of paparazzi on motorbikes and in cars and… well, the rest, as they say, is history. The doco then cuts back to 1981 when rumours first emerged of a possible engagement between 19-year-old Diana Spencer and Prince Charles, scion of the British throne, 12 years her senior, and we see early images of the young woman whose shyness and beauty immediately began to captivate the media and the general public. Prince Charles was not getting any younger and there was great expectation for him to marry and produce an heir and Diana was the perfect choice; she had the right noble credentials and was, according to statements from those ‘in the know’, a virgin. We then follow her through the royal couple’s nuptials, the birth of princes William and Harry, the breakup of her marriage, her charity work as a single woman and, ultimately, the fatal crash in the French capital.
The Princess includes many interviews with Charles and Diana, both while engaged and when married, and we see Diana’s personality come to the fore as she grew more accustomed to the media and it became clear that she was no shrinking violet. As her confidence grew, she became more popular than her husband and Prince Charles exhibited his dashed male ego when he stated that, “It would have been easier to have two wives, to cover both sides of the street.” Indeed, one photographer claimed that “you can’t give pictures of [Charles] away” whereas hers were worth a motza. The press and the public just couldn’t get enough of her. Their trip to Australia confirmed the public’s adoration of Diana (and his annoyance about it) - in fact, the visit was responsible for an 80% rise in the popularity of the monarchy.
Interestingly, the documentary doesn’t go into much detail about Charles and Diana’s extra-marital affairs, except for their most well-known dalliances - his with Camilla Parker-Bowles and hers with James Hewitt. The press, the film reminds us, had a field-day releasing personal tapes that had been recorded surreptitiously of each of them talking to their lovers. When the couple were interviewed individually, during Diana’s infamous interview with journalist Martin Bashir, she claimed that her marriage was “a bit crowded” and an audience of eight million people became privy to Charles’ adultery and Diana’s bulimia. Subsequently, the gossip surrounding their separation became entertainment fodder for the media and the public’s obsession with Diana only grew.
Credit must go to Perkins’ excellent direction and to Jinx Godfrey and Daniel Lapira for their brilliant editing, plus Martin Phipps’ stirring music (augmented by compositions from Rutger Hoedemaekers). Although much of the footage is familiar and many in the audience may think that they know it all, this documentary feels original. It clearly shows that when a modern person is placed into an ancient institution, the interloper will likely be destroyed. It also poses the question, just how much did the public’s fascination feed the ravenous beast that the press and paparazzi created? It makes you ask, has anything really changed? If another Princess Diana came along, would we treat her just the same?
The Princess is a fascinating and intense documentary.
Screenplay: Ed Perkins (uncredited)
Principal cast (all archive footage):
Princess Diana
Prince Charles
Queen Elizabeth II
Camilla Parker-Bowles
Prince Philip
Princess Anne
Country: UK/USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 109 mins.
Australian release date: 11 August 2020.
It’s almost 25 years since the untimely death of Diana, Princess of Wales (as she was then known) on 31 August 1997 and, to this day, her premature demise remains a source of grief for her admirers; even those who hold cynical views about the royal family concede that her death was tragic. Thus, it is not surprising that this new documentary, The Princess, directed by Ed Perkins and produced by the Academy Award-winning team behind Man on Wire and Searching for Sugar Man, has taken a fresh look at her life and marriage and the hysteria surrounding it. Using only contemporaneous archival footage, and no narration, it unfolds like a dramatic movie.
The opening moments of shaky, home-video footage taken outside the Ritz Hotel in Paris (filmed by Aussie tourists) capture the chaotic scene as a crush of people wait for the princess and her companion Dodi Al Fayed to depart the plush auberge. When the pair emerge, they set off pursued by a pack of paparazzi on motorbikes and in cars and… well, the rest, as they say, is history. The doco then cuts back to 1981 when rumours first emerged of a possible engagement between 19-year-old Diana Spencer and Prince Charles, scion of the British throne, 12 years her senior, and we see early images of the young woman whose shyness and beauty immediately began to captivate the media and the general public. Prince Charles was not getting any younger and there was great expectation for him to marry and produce an heir and Diana was the perfect choice; she had the right noble credentials and was, according to statements from those ‘in the know’, a virgin. We then follow her through the royal couple’s nuptials, the birth of princes William and Harry, the breakup of her marriage, her charity work as a single woman and, ultimately, the fatal crash in the French capital.
The Princess includes many interviews with Charles and Diana, both while engaged and when married, and we see Diana’s personality come to the fore as she grew more accustomed to the media and it became clear that she was no shrinking violet. As her confidence grew, she became more popular than her husband and Prince Charles exhibited his dashed male ego when he stated that, “It would have been easier to have two wives, to cover both sides of the street.” Indeed, one photographer claimed that “you can’t give pictures of [Charles] away” whereas hers were worth a motza. The press and the public just couldn’t get enough of her. Their trip to Australia confirmed the public’s adoration of Diana (and his annoyance about it) - in fact, the visit was responsible for an 80% rise in the popularity of the monarchy.
Interestingly, the documentary doesn’t go into much detail about Charles and Diana’s extra-marital affairs, except for their most well-known dalliances - his with Camilla Parker-Bowles and hers with James Hewitt. The press, the film reminds us, had a field-day releasing personal tapes that had been recorded surreptitiously of each of them talking to their lovers. When the couple were interviewed individually, during Diana’s infamous interview with journalist Martin Bashir, she claimed that her marriage was “a bit crowded” and an audience of eight million people became privy to Charles’ adultery and Diana’s bulimia. Subsequently, the gossip surrounding their separation became entertainment fodder for the media and the public’s obsession with Diana only grew.
Credit must go to Perkins’ excellent direction and to Jinx Godfrey and Daniel Lapira for their brilliant editing, plus Martin Phipps’ stirring music (augmented by compositions from Rutger Hoedemaekers). Although much of the footage is familiar and many in the audience may think that they know it all, this documentary feels original. It clearly shows that when a modern person is placed into an ancient institution, the interloper will likely be destroyed. It also poses the question, just how much did the public’s fascination feed the ravenous beast that the press and paparazzi created? It makes you ask, has anything really changed? If another Princess Diana came along, would we treat her just the same?
The Princess is a fascinating and intense documentary.