Princess Charming
THE PRINCESS Cert 12A ★★★★
In cinemas now
There are no fresh revelations in this feature-length documentary about Diana. But it offers a compressed view of her short life as the Princess of Wales, seen through archive footage and old interviews. The effect is like a rush of fuzzy memories, given new shape by slick editing and the distance of time. It makes for compelling, if uncomfortable, viewing.
After opening with 25-year-old footage of paparazzi gathered outside The Ritz in Paris, director Ed Perkins rewinds, showing a teenage Diana making her way to her car as future ITN anchor Carol Barnes badgers her with questions about her rumoured engagement to the future king.
The grainy film, Barnes’ plummy RP accent and Diana’s unguarded replies make it seem like footage from a bygone age.
When we get to the 1981 royal wedding, the past really does seem like a foreign country. A newscaster relates how Diana’s family “vouched for her virginity” as crowds ecstatically celebrate their arranged marriage in Trafalgar Square.
Interviews with the awkward couple feel just as surreal. I’m no body language expert but it seems glaringly obvious Charles’s heart wasn’t in it. Then, as we follow the slow death of the marriage, Diana’s feelings become just as apparent. She’s utterly charming with members of the public but clearly distressed by the attention.
Tragically, she doesn’t cede the limelight after the divorce, stepping in front of the cameras to spearhead new campaigns.
During her funeral, Perkins invites us to stare at two young boys as they grieve for their mother under the unblinking gaze of the world.
Were the media to blame for her death, as one furious member of the public shouts to a journalist? Or should those clamouring for seats in the circus shoulder some responsibility too?
It seems glaringly obvious that Charles’s heart just wasn’t in it