Oh dear, oh dear, the very first Diana cash-in when she was still alive, I would really like to know if she ever saw this and what she thought. Many of the lines are almost beyond belief. Charles as played by David Threlfall is so beyond caricature, it is like watching a walking talking dummy from Madame Tussauds. The Queen: You must alter the substance of your relationship. Charles: There IS no substance to our relationship! And when Diana has either cut her wrist, or thrown herself downstairs, or run in tears from a reception, The Queen to Charles: What did you do THIS time! Although the costuming and sets are pretty good, small details like completely fictitious newspapers are irritating and I think unnecessary, it is recent history after all. Serena Scott Thomas plays Diana as a very wilful character more so than in Morton's book but affecting I think, and believable. We will never remember Diana through films like this of course, but this is an oddly moving though hilarious account of 12 tumultuous years, and although less said about the support cast especially those playing the royals the better, it is the best of the sorry crop of 'biofilms' on Diana. (Not a high recommendation.)
5 Reviews
Not recommended!
starsmark-17 November 2019
This movie is so bad it's painful to watch. The acting is terrible and none of the actors resemble their real-life counterparts. I know that Charles and Diana's marriage was not a happy one, but if even one quarter of the dramatization is true, their marriage was a complete train wreck from the beginning. Both Charles and Diana are portrayed as deeply dysfunctional, cardboard people. I usually enjoy royal dramatizations, but not this one.
Mediocre
missdyonne5 July 2021
Serena Scott Thomas Is Spot On As Princess Diana
carpentersfan200317 January 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Now I know there are few people out there that have seen this movie since it was broadcast years ago in 1993. And I have to say that I for one was very entertained by the story of a shy young girl that in her own words was " a lamb to the slaughter ". Those words are uttered by the Serena Scott Thomas ( the Late Princess of Wales) as she talks the women playing Lady Diana's sisters Jane and Sarah just before her wedding to Prince Charles. This was just after Diana found out that Charles had given Camilla a gold bracelet embossed with the letters "F" and "G"...
*** Spoiler Warning ***
There are number of good scenes in this film that show us the true hell that Diana had to endure while she was part of the Royal firm. To name a few.
Diana was an animal lover. " I cant bare all this Charles." As she watched her husband shooting grouse on grounds of Belmoral. The Prince's pithy remark. " You once told me this was the best place on Earth..." Diana is left feeling both hurt and dismayed at Charles total lack of feeling for her emotions.
Of course there are a number of good points in this movie in regards to Camilla and her on-going relationship with Charles. Diana seeing the "Charming little cuff-links with the "C's inter-twined" while they are alone dancing on the Royal yacht. " You PIG!!!" Diana says. And later on while the Royal couple are having breakfast and looking over their day planner's a photo of Camilla falls out of Charles' diary. It is scooped up by Diana who rightfully asks. " What kind of a man BRINGS A PHOTOGRAPH OF ANOTHER WOMAN ON HIS HONEYMOON!?!?!"
Later on we see a pregnant and openly tearful Diana all but begging the Prince to stay at her side for the the day. " Watching you shoot innocent animals is not my IDEA of spending time together..." Charles continues to walk away from her. " They will not start the hunt without me." in a dismissing tone of voice over his shoulder. Diana ups the argument by shouting " But I'm your wife..." it's at this moment that we see Charles actually snap at Diana. " All I had to do was get married, produce an heir and wait my turn to be King..." The very next thing we hear is Diana call out her husbands name and then she throws herself down the stairs.
Of course Diana's bulimia is well documented in this movie as well and first time we see this is just before the wedding when Diana learns from Camilla that Charles is going to Australia for five weeks. After confronting the Prince and his staff Diana makes a beeline for the kitchen where she begins to tuck in to a plate of cold chicken. She eats a number of bites hardly chewing and then when she realizes that she's been watches she looks about and then smiles. " Oh my God. I won't fit into my clothes. I must be mad.." And into the bathroom she goes.
The only thing that I was upset about was the fact that they did use stock footage at points in this film and if you look closely you can see the real Princess making a cameo appearance here and there. ( Watch the Glass coach scene at during the ride to the chapel for the wedding. You can see The real Diana Spencer waving to the crowds.)
Other then that I have to say that this movie is one of the best I have ever seen and I do recommend it to anyone. Well done Serena...
*** Spoiler Warning ***
There are number of good scenes in this film that show us the true hell that Diana had to endure while she was part of the Royal firm. To name a few.
Diana was an animal lover. " I cant bare all this Charles." As she watched her husband shooting grouse on grounds of Belmoral. The Prince's pithy remark. " You once told me this was the best place on Earth..." Diana is left feeling both hurt and dismayed at Charles total lack of feeling for her emotions.
Of course there are a number of good points in this movie in regards to Camilla and her on-going relationship with Charles. Diana seeing the "Charming little cuff-links with the "C's inter-twined" while they are alone dancing on the Royal yacht. " You PIG!!!" Diana says. And later on while the Royal couple are having breakfast and looking over their day planner's a photo of Camilla falls out of Charles' diary. It is scooped up by Diana who rightfully asks. " What kind of a man BRINGS A PHOTOGRAPH OF ANOTHER WOMAN ON HIS HONEYMOON!?!?!"
Later on we see a pregnant and openly tearful Diana all but begging the Prince to stay at her side for the the day. " Watching you shoot innocent animals is not my IDEA of spending time together..." Charles continues to walk away from her. " They will not start the hunt without me." in a dismissing tone of voice over his shoulder. Diana ups the argument by shouting " But I'm your wife..." it's at this moment that we see Charles actually snap at Diana. " All I had to do was get married, produce an heir and wait my turn to be King..." The very next thing we hear is Diana call out her husbands name and then she throws herself down the stairs.
Of course Diana's bulimia is well documented in this movie as well and first time we see this is just before the wedding when Diana learns from Camilla that Charles is going to Australia for five weeks. After confronting the Prince and his staff Diana makes a beeline for the kitchen where she begins to tuck in to a plate of cold chicken. She eats a number of bites hardly chewing and then when she realizes that she's been watches she looks about and then smiles. " Oh my God. I won't fit into my clothes. I must be mad.." And into the bathroom she goes.
The only thing that I was upset about was the fact that they did use stock footage at points in this film and if you look closely you can see the real Princess making a cameo appearance here and there. ( Watch the Glass coach scene at during the ride to the chapel for the wedding. You can see The real Diana Spencer waving to the crowds.)
Other then that I have to say that this movie is one of the best I have ever seen and I do recommend it to anyone. Well done Serena...
Princess Diana: Her Soap Opera Of A Life
FloatingOpera731 July 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Diana: Her True Story (1993): Starring Serena Scott Thomas, David Threlfall, Elizabeth Garvie, Anne Stallybrass, Tracy Hardwick, Gabrielle Blunt, Donald Douglas, Jemma Redgrave, Jeremy Child, Aletta Lawson, Helen Masters, Rowland Davies, Christopher Bowen, Adam Blackwood, Jeffrey Harmer, Adam Blackwood, David Ryall, Alan Shearman, Robin Hart, Anthony Calf.....Director Kevin Connor...Screenplay Stephen Zito, From The Book By Andrew Morton.
In 1993, when the shocking revelations of Princess Diana's tormented private life was released via a controversial book by Andrew Morton, and when Princess Di was herself still very much alive, this equally controversial television series was made. Bold director Kevin Connor presents a dramatic and almost hard to believe story of a woman who suffers a hell of a marriage, develops bulimia, attempts suicide, and is hated by those closest to her, finding comfort only in the love of the public both in the UK and all over the world. This TV series, in several parts, has its good aspects and bad. For one thing, it is attemtping to be as gritty and real as possible for 1993, when the truth about Princess Di's disastrous marriage to Prince Charles was recently released information for many. It is bad, however, that they would make money off the famous troubled marriage so soon. Instead of watching something that is as serious as a documentary or biography, we get a very melodramatic, sensational soap opera, like "Dynasty" except with the familiar real life people of Princess Di, Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Queen Elizabeth II, even Fergi, Duchess of York. And this is a downside. Because it's too much like a soap opera, we cannot feel the seriousness of the story. Serena Scott Thomas looks nothing like the real Di, and hams it up throughout the series like some bitchy soap opera diva. Instead of sympathizing with her, we feel nothing but annoyance. She is willful, she is constantly fighting with Charles instead of "talking" about her problem. She screams through most of the episodes. David Threlfal as Prince Charles is too mannequin-like and worse, utterly unconvincing. He comes off as arrogant, pompous, selfish and spoiled. While I know the real Prince is probably like that, it made it worse that both Charles and Di behaved (in the series) like spoiled married people in a soap opera. Princess Di probably had her faults too, but it does appear to me, as to everyone, that she was a victim who had had enough and broke free from the trap Charles and his mother, the cold Queen Elizabeth II, had made for her. It's sad that she died when she was experiencing true happiness as a divorced woman, ready to marry Dodi. This series has lovely cinematography. Instead of a studio set, we see the actual Windsor Castle, Balmoral and other places that figure in the life of Charles and Diana. This series is of interest to people who love Princess Di, but even these fans might feel this film is too trashy to be true in some respects.
In 1993, when the shocking revelations of Princess Diana's tormented private life was released via a controversial book by Andrew Morton, and when Princess Di was herself still very much alive, this equally controversial television series was made. Bold director Kevin Connor presents a dramatic and almost hard to believe story of a woman who suffers a hell of a marriage, develops bulimia, attempts suicide, and is hated by those closest to her, finding comfort only in the love of the public both in the UK and all over the world. This TV series, in several parts, has its good aspects and bad. For one thing, it is attemtping to be as gritty and real as possible for 1993, when the truth about Princess Di's disastrous marriage to Prince Charles was recently released information for many. It is bad, however, that they would make money off the famous troubled marriage so soon. Instead of watching something that is as serious as a documentary or biography, we get a very melodramatic, sensational soap opera, like "Dynasty" except with the familiar real life people of Princess Di, Charles, Camilla Parker Bowles, Queen Elizabeth II, even Fergi, Duchess of York. And this is a downside. Because it's too much like a soap opera, we cannot feel the seriousness of the story. Serena Scott Thomas looks nothing like the real Di, and hams it up throughout the series like some bitchy soap opera diva. Instead of sympathizing with her, we feel nothing but annoyance. She is willful, she is constantly fighting with Charles instead of "talking" about her problem. She screams through most of the episodes. David Threlfal as Prince Charles is too mannequin-like and worse, utterly unconvincing. He comes off as arrogant, pompous, selfish and spoiled. While I know the real Prince is probably like that, it made it worse that both Charles and Di behaved (in the series) like spoiled married people in a soap opera. Princess Di probably had her faults too, but it does appear to me, as to everyone, that she was a victim who had had enough and broke free from the trap Charles and his mother, the cold Queen Elizabeth II, had made for her. It's sad that she died when she was experiencing true happiness as a divorced woman, ready to marry Dodi. This series has lovely cinematography. Instead of a studio set, we see the actual Windsor Castle, Balmoral and other places that figure in the life of Charles and Diana. This series is of interest to people who love Princess Di, but even these fans might feel this film is too trashy to be true in some respects.
See also
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