Kristen Stewart, Emma Corrin, and More Actresses as Princess Diana in Film and TV
From fashion icon to humanitarian, Princess Diana left a legacy few could follow-up, but it seems actress Kristen Stewart is taking on the challenge. Following her buzzworthy role in Hulu's LGBTQ+ holiday rom-com Happiest Season, Stewart will star in Spencer, a new Princess Di biopic. However, before the Twilight actress steps into the shoes of the people's princess, let's remember the ladies who have already taken on the role. L'OFFICIEL remembers the actresses behind some of the most memorable depictions of the late princess in film and TV history.
Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg has played Princess Diana in two different films. The first, The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana in 1982, celebrates the couple's new union, while the second Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After from 1992, depicts the breakdown of the royal marriage as told in Andrew Morton's book Diana: Her True Story published the same year. Through her mother, Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, Oxenberg is Prince Charles' third cousin.
A year after the release of Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story, Serena Scott Thomas played the eponymous role in a film of the same name. David Threlfall plays Prince Charles, while Elizabeth Garvie appears as Camilla Parker Bowles.
In 1996, the same year as Diana's divorce was finalized, Julie Cox starred in Princess in Love, a film based on the book of the same name by Anna Pasternak which details the affair between the Princess of Wales and James Hewitt.
Just a year after Princess Diana's death in 1997, Amy Seccombe played her in Diana: A Tribute to the People's Princess.
Based on Kate Snell's book Diana: Her Last Love, the 2013 film Diana stars Naomi Watts as the British people's favorite former royal as she lives out the last two years of her life, beginning with her divorce from Prince Charles.
In November 2020, Netflix released season four of The Crown, featuring Emma Corrin as the young Diana Spencer. The season follows the soon-to-be-princess from her early courtship with Prince Charles to the final breakdown of their marriage in 1990. The series has generated major controversy over its depiction of events, including discontent with the British government and royal family. This week, the UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden called for Netflix to add a disclaimer that the series is fictional. Speaking with the Daily Mail, he likened the request to a “health warning.”
While fans have enjoyed Corrin's portrayal as the late princess, Debicki will be taking on the role in season five, as The Crown changes the cast every two seasons. When Debicki's casting was announced in August, she said in a statement, "Princess Diana's spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many. It is my true privilege and honour to be joining this masterful series which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one."