There was no schmaltz in this Diana tribute, only love
Undoubtedly the most poignant moments in Diana Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy
(ITV) were those in which the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Harry recalled the hurried phone conversations they had with their mother in Paris, in August 1997, before her death.
“What I do remember is regretting for the rest of my life how short that phone call was,” said Harry, echoing his older brother’s sentiments. It captured the lingering sense of a life snatched away too soon, and the enormous impact their 36-year-old mother’s death had on their young lives, aged just 15 and 12 at the time.
Twenty years on, the sense of love and fun that Diana, Princess of Wales, imbued them with in the privacy of Kensington Palace radiated from the screen. She was the wellspring, we were bound to conclude, from which they drew their remarkable ability to behave so naturally in front of TV cameras, and communicate so easily with seemingly everyone they meet.
As well as a loving mother, Diana was also remembered for the admiration and devotion she inspired in millions around the world. Friends and close associates spoke on camera about her for the first time. Earl Spencer shared home movie footage and fond memories of their childhood together; Elton John recalled the important work she did for Aids charities; mine victims from Bosnia remembered the hope she inspired with her successful campaign for an international ban on landmines.
Diana’s marital troubles were alluded to, but only in the vaguest terms. There was no contribution from the Prince of Wales. Nor any mention of Andrew Morton’s explosive biography or that “three of us in this marriage” Panorama interview. Happiness and love were the keynotes here. And photographs, lots of them, from a recently rediscovered album put together by a mother whose children were clearly the central pleasure in her life.
Indeed, without any hint of schmaltz, what really emerged here was that Diana’s most significant legacy was not her charity work or her own ability to empathise with ordinary people, important as those contributions were. Or even the extraordinary outpouring of public grief that attended her death. Rather her legacy was these two young princes who – even in the act of recalling their mother with unqualified love and joy – are transforming the face of the Royal family by being its most openly approachable and compassionate members yet. Gerard O’donovan
The first episode in a new series of Game of Thrones (Sky Atlantic) is, traditionally, a comparatively calm one designed to catch us viewers up with everything that had been going on in this deeply complex, multifaceted series. So with last night’s thrilling second episode, we were back to normal service with a bang. Or, in the case of the last five minutes, many many bangs.
Only 11 more episodes remain, and the plot is now zipping along, with this episode giving us a clutch of events that we’ve been awaiting for years. And it was the first contact between Daenerys and Jon Snow (via letter) and between Grey Worm and Missandei (via a very steamy sex scene) that share the title for most exciting.
For the latter, we’ve long been wondering when the sexual chemistry between Daenerys’s trusted adviser (Nathalie Emmanuel) and the commander of the Unsullied army of warrior-eunuchs (Jacob Anderson) would finally be “acknowledged” – not to mention how, given his physical limitations. Fortunately, it was a moment that was as sweet as it was erotic.
It also seems weird, now, to think that for all this time Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) has been oblivious to the existence of Jon Snow (Kit Harington), our worthy King in the North (and her secret nephew). Now, it seems they are set to be each other’s greatest allies. The moment that they are finally in each other’s presence will be a thrilling one indeed – and not least because he has some rather sobering news for her about Queen Cersei (Lena Headey) really being the least of their problems.
But for all the nudity and fascinating political machinations, what made this a classic Game of Thrones episode was the climactic naval battle that took the Greyjoy army, fresh from forming an alliance with Daenerys, by surprise. With the power tipping far too heavily in favour of Daenerys, suddenly the playing field was spectacularly levelled again. Catherine Gee
Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Her Legacy ★★★★
Game of Thrones ★★★★