Hollywood Insider - News Entertainment & Culture

Substance & Meaningful Entertainment

Against Gossip & Scandal

Independent Media Network

Global Stories From Local Perspective

Factual Culture News

The Hollywood Insider The Princess Diana Documentary

Photo: ‘The Princess’ 

Returning to the Much-Told Story of Princess Diana

We didn’t need another film about the late Princess Diana. The story of Princess Diana, is a familiar and repetitive legend of modern Hollywood. . In an objectively short amount of time, the Diana story became a sort of Shakespearean affair on its own: a kind-hearted figure is destroyed by the people who supposedly worship her, swarming her funeral like termites, not letting her have peace even in death. We didn’t need to know the on-paper details of the story — we have Wikipedia and dozens of hours of archival footage free to use at our fingertips. A common criticism I’ve seen of ‘The Princess’, documentary concerned with the project that is  Princess Diana, is that it doesn’t present us with any new information. This film will not give you any revelatory facts if you’re even somewhat familiar with the story. The haunting beauty of ‘The Princess’ comes not from its power as a biography, but from how it weaves together nearly two decades’ worth of a public figure’s relationship with the outside world, as told from the latter’s perspective.

Things to do: 

  1. Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel, by clicking here. 
  2. Limited Time Offer – FREE Subscription to The Hollywood Insider
  3. Click here to read more on The Hollywood Insider’s vision, values and mission statement here – Media has the responsibility to better our world – The Hollywood Insider fully focuses on substance and meaningful entertainment, against gossip and scandal, by combining entertainment, education, and philanthropy.

Whereas Pablo Larraín’s lauded 2021 film ‘Spencer’ focused on the internal life of a young Diana, in a way that doesn’t stick close to historical facts but which feels spiritually true to her character, ‘The Princess’ places all its bets on the external, placing Diana’s life in the context of a global society which was becoming increasingly interconnected by way of around-the-clock news media and the early stages of the internet. If you’re looking for a documentary that tells Diana’s story through her words, you’ll be disappointed, since while we do get a handful of interview excerpts from Diana (a shockingly small portion of the runtime), these spots seem deliberately tight-lipped. Diana herself didn’t appear at all keen on exposing more of herself to the public than she had to. From the time she married Prince Charles in 1981, in what was then one of the most-watched events on TV worldwide, to her death, Diana pretty much lived her life as seen through other eyes. She could do something as innocuous as sunbathe in her own backyard and she could retrieve camera footage of her doing just that. The life and death of Diana Spencer may have seemed like a tragedy of epic proportions, but it also served as a harbinger for future public figures, who would somehow have even less privacy granted to them than her.

Related article: Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of United Queendom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (Video Insight)

A Documentary Entirely Reliant on Its Editing

Documentary filmmaking, as a rule of thumb, mostly happens in the editing room. Anyone could, theoretically, make a documentary feature with a tiny budget and a small crew; the hard part comes when you’ve got your footage and you now have to turn it into a movie with a cohesive narrative. Director Ed Perkins must have had a  difficult job acquiring footage for ‘The Princess’, considering the movie is entirely archival footage. The variety of the archival footage, however, is certainly worth commending. Not only do we get what you would expect (news spotlights, interviews with public figures, etc.), but we also get home video footage from people who are not public figures — normal people who just happened to be at the right place at the right time. The film opens with footage taken by a couple of tourists in Paris, in 1997, on the night some paparazzi drove Diana and her friend Dodi Fayed into the crash that would take both their lives.

Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs

What makes much of the archival footage so haunting is that the people both in front of and behind all these cameras seem blissfully unaware of the abyss they’re about to fall into. After the opening scene with the tourists, we jump back in time to the day of Diana being wedded to Prince Charles, in what may have been (at least from an outside perspective) the happiest day of her life — indeed, the happy ending expected of a princess in a fairy tale. Yet as one commentator notes during the ceremony that had eyes all over the world watching, Diana’s life would continue long after that glorious day.

Related video: Full Commentary – Cast & Crew Spills Secrets on Making of ‘Elvis’ | In-Depth Scoop | Austin Butler

Related video: Full Rendezvous At the Premiere of ‘Elvis’ with Reactions from Stars | Austin Butler, Baz Luhrmann

Related video: Come Behind The Scenes of ‘Elvis’ | Austin Butler, Tom Hanks and Baz Luhrmann

Related article: MUST WATCH – The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s Love Letter to Black Lives Matter – VIDEO

Related article: Why Queen Elizabeth II Is One Of The Greatest Monarchs | Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II of United Queendom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland (Video Insight)

Related article: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | Hollywood Insider

‘The Princess’ is not a traditional documentary in the sense that it does not cover Diana’s entire life, nor does it focus much on laying down the base facts of its subject. Instead, it assumes, correctly, that you have all of this mapped out in your head already. What makes the film different, and indeed what generates such a mixed reaction from moviegoers, is the way in which it tells its knowingly familiar story. It works, from beginning to end, almost like one huge montage, perpetually in motion, letting now-ancient voices and camera footage tell its story with virtually no interruptions.

Related article: The Royals (The Anti-Gossip Article): Do You Know the Truths on Queen Elizabeth, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle, Prince William & Kate Middleton?

The painful and protracted erosion of Diana’s marriage is given to us through dozens of outside spectators, often speculating, sometimes unambiguously intruding on the privacy of their subjects; it’s sickening, but it’s also not uncommon. With ‘The Princess’, Perkins set out to examine what may have caused Diana’s flame to burn out, and in doing so, he takes aim at news media, at tabloids, at other celebrities, and perhaps most importantly, at the British monarchy. Now, being a proud Union man, I don’t have any love toward the monarchy, but I think it’s fair to say it’s an outmoded system of governance that will, hopefully, if not inevitably, give way to a fully democratic British government — a British government that will have finally buried its extensively imperialist history.

Related article: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase: “The Importance of Venice Film Festival as the Protector of Cinema”

Related article: The Masters of Cinema Archives: The Hollywood Insider Pays Tribute to ‘La Vie En Rose’, Exclusive Interview with Director Olivier Dahan

Related article: – Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY

Related Video: Full Commentary on ‘Top Gun: Maverick’: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller

Related video: ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ Full Premiere Reactions: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller

Related video: EVOLUTION: Every Tom Cruise Role From 1981 to 2021, All Performances Exceptionally Poignant

The Last Testimony of a Tragic Real-Life Figure

I’m sure we’ll get more films about Princess Diana, but I’m really convinced that we don’t need another one. The story has been told and retold so many times now that one more retread will likely feel like exploitation. ‘The Princess’ walks a tightrope over said exploitation, examining the slow disintegration of a woman who really did seem to be good at heart, being caught up in public scandal and private unhappiness — unhappiness that could not even be kept private. Diana’s story was not the last of its kind, naturally, as we’ve gotten more cases of public figures who have crumbled under the pressure, and as the internet has become far more ubiquitous since Diana’s death, we won’t be seeing the end of such cases.

Related article: FACT-CHECKED SERIES: Prince Harry and 32 Facts on the Duke of Sussex

Related article: Kate Middleton & Meghan Markle: Both Women Can Be Great Without One Being Torn Down, Stop Pitting The Duchesses Against Each Other

Related article: Watch: FACT-CHECKED Series – 15 Things You Might Not Know About HRH Crown Prince Charles | More Than Just The Son Of Queen Elizabeth, Father Of Prince William & Prince Harry

The world has become smaller and less private, and it can be nigh-impossible to take out one’s dirty laundry without a million pairs of eyeballs staring at it; this may be hard to comprehend for the vast majority of us, who are not public figures after all, but it may soon come to pass that even the most unassuming of persons will not be able to escape the flood of easy-to-access information. Watching the archival footage fathered in ‘The Princess’ on YouTube, as individual videos, is far from the same thing as watching the film they were gathered into, for the simple reason that ‘The Princess’ tells the same story far more masterfully, and far more scarily, than what any one of us can manage by making a playlist of old interviews. ‘The Princess’ is, in spirit if not as a literal fact, the final film about Princess Diana — it has to be, if it wants to make sure its work is not in vain. 

CREW: Director: Ed Perkins, Producers: Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Vanessa Tovel, Editors: Jinx Godfrey, Daniel Lapira, Music: Martin Phipps

By Brian Collins

Click here to read The Hollywood Insider’s CEO Pritan Ambroase’s love letter to Cinema, TV and Media. An excerpt from the love letter: The Hollywood Insider’s CEO/editor-in-chief Pritan Ambroase affirms, We have the space and time for all your stories, no matter who/what/where you are. Media/Cinema/TV have a responsibility to better the world and The Hollywood Insider will continue to do so. Talent, diversity and authenticity matter in Cinema/TV, media and storytelling. In fact, I reckon that we should announce “talent-diversity-authenticity-storytelling-Cinema-Oscars-Academy-Awards” as synonyms of each other. We show respect to talent and stories regardless of their skin color, race, gender, sexuality, religion, nationality, etc., thus allowing authenticity into this system just by something as simple as accepting and showing respect to the human species’ factual diversity. We become greater just by respecting and appreciating talent in all its shapes, sizes, and forms. Award winners, which includes nominees, must be chosen on the greatness of their talent ALONE.

I am sure I am speaking for a multitude of Cinema lovers all over the world when I speak of the following sentiments that this medium of art has blessed me with. Cinema taught me about our world, at times in English and at times through the beautiful one-inch bar of subtitles. I learned from the stories in the global movies that we are all alike across all borders. Remember that one of the best symbols of many great civilizations and their prosperity has been the art they have left behind. This art can be in the form of paintings, sculptures, architecture, writings, inventions, etc. For our modern society, Cinema happens to be one of them. Cinema is more than just a form of entertainment, it is an integral part of society. I love the world uniting, be it for Cinema, TV, media, art, fashion, sport, etc. Please keep this going full speed.

More Interesting Stories From The Hollywood Insider

Want GUARANTEED SUCCESS? Remove these ten words from your vocabulary| Transform your life INSTANTLY

A Tribute to Martin Scorsese: A Complete Analysis of the Life and Career of the Man Who Lives and Breathes Cinema 

Do you know the hidden messages in ‘Call Me By Your Name’? Find out behind the scenes facts in the full commentary and In-depth analysis of the cinematic masterpiece

A Tribute To The Academy Awards: All Best Actor/Actress Speeches From The Beginning Of Oscars 1929-2019 | From Rami Malek, Leonardo DiCaprio To Denzel Washington, Halle Berry & Beyond | From Olivia Colman, Meryl Streep To Bette Davis & Beyond

In the 32nd Year Of His Career, Keanu Reeves’ Face Continues To Reign After Launching Movies Earning Over $4.3 Billion In Total – “John Wick”, “Toy Story 4”, “Matrix”, And Many More

the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess, the princess

Author

  • Brian Collins

    Brian Collins is a cinephile, an avid reader, and a writer at The Hollywood Insider. Brian is a firm believer that great Cinema can come from any genre and from any country. While he has a fine time with dramas that garner attention come awards season, Brian likes to analyze and celebrate genre filmmaking, such as science fiction, fantasy, horror, westerns, etc. With The Hollywood Insider as support, Brian hopes to bring light to genre films, both American and abroad. He is also a contributor to the blog series Young People Read Old SFF.

    View all posts
Website It Up