Lady Di never got the Happily Ever After
On my ‘must see’ list is ‘The Princess’ directed by Ed Perkins. The documentary is very timely with the Princess Diana Statue installed in the Sunken Garden to celebrate what should have been her 60th birthday on July 1st 2021.
I grew up adoring Lady Di and how she used her profile to reach out to people around the world and bring attention to charities, the AIDS crisis, landmines and so much more while skating the Royal rule of not being ‘political’. All the while navigating her marriage to Prince Charles, his longtime mistress Camilla (now wife), her eating disorder, and harassment by the paparazzi.
Over the past few years watching Meghan, Duchess of Sussex with not only the paparazzi but online harassment it reminded me of how (it appeared to me) how Lady Di and Duchess Meghan both tried to navigate being the British Monarchy with its archaic rules and that the Heir apparent must be front and center untarnished no matter what they did.
Both women have been used as foils to distract from the Heir Apparent behavior but with the added hurdle of being an American Divorcee of African descent well in this new media world, I can’t help but wonder how much different it would be for Prince Harry and his family if Lady Di was still alive.
I think she would have been an ally to Duchess Meghan from being a shoulder to cry on and defender of her son, daughter in law and grandchildren. Maybe Prince William would have been a better husband and man.
I look forward to watching this documentary and am sure many of the Sussex Squad will want to purchase tickets to see this documentary showing how fairy tale isn’t what little girls glimpse when dreaming of love’s kiss to awaken us from the slumber from a poisoned apple.
Sundance Film Festival 2020 Screening Info
THE PRINCESS
Decades after her untimely death, Princess Diana continues to evoke mystery, glamour, and the quintessential modern fairy tale gone wrong. As a symbol of both the widening fissures weakening the British monarchy and the destructive machinery of the press, the Princess of Wales navigated an unparalleled rise to fame and the corrosive challenges that came alongside it. Crafted entirely from immersive archival footage and free from the distraction of retrospective voices, this hypnotic and audaciously revealing documentary takes a distinctive formal approach, allowing the story of the People’s Princess to unfold before us like never before.
Director Ed Perkins distills thousands of hours of riveting material to present Diana’s story in a fresh and imaginative way, depicting not only one of the most alluring public figures of the 20th century but also the sociopolitical upheaval afflicting the United Kingdom at the time. The Princess exquisitely captures the echoes of a monarchy whose far-reaching impact on the public continues to this day, turning the camera back on ourselves to explore our own complicity in this enigmatic narrative.
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