The Princess

The tragic death of Diana Spencer on August 31, 1997, sparked a public outburst of mourning such as England had never experienced before. Her life was public property. So was her death. The moment the news came out is etched in a generation's memory. British Oscar-nominated director Ed Perkins (‘Tell Me Who I Am’), eschewing voice-over narration and relying solely on archive images both from the media and amateur public recordings, fashions a confrontational chronicle of the public life and death of the beloved princess. ‘The Princess’ spans the years between 1981, from when she first appeared in the media just before her engagement to Prince Charles, to her funeral in 1997. The story has been told more than once, but ‘The Princess’ is not just another speculation about Diana's private life: the film shows the public image as the world saw it evolve, from the fairy tale, to the soap opera, and finally to the tragedy… ‘We know what happens but, even so, Ed Perkins’s skilfully edited documentary on the dazzling outsider royal is utterly and unerringly compelling… Then there was the terrible crash itself; that extraordinary event in those pre-social-media days when it was still possible to tell people the news… This film conveys, albeit indirectly and perhaps unintentionally, how very exciting it was to be in London in the week between the crash and the funeral, the batsqueak of hysteria in the air. Here was the event that created the new verities of emotional openness and mental health in British public life.’—Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian