While the absolute truth of the events that took place during Lady Diana Spencer’s time as Princess of Wales in the 1980s and 1990s is in fact shrouded in privacy laws and secrecy, the major media coverage her life and death continues to receive has, nevertheless provided an inspiration for a number of works of fiction: there is a reason The crown after all, became one of Netflix’s highest-rated original series. But it’s Diana’s failed fairy tale that continues to amaze fans and critics of royalty, pop culture junkies, and anyone who hasn’t lived under a rock for the past three decades.
last fall, Pablo Larrain released his long-awaited new movie, Spencernext Kristen Stewart as Lady Diana in what was ultimately herself described as a ‘fable based on true tragedy’. Indeed, aside from the accounts Diana and those involved have given to the press in the years leading up to her death, it is almost impossible for the general public to know the full ins and outs of Diana’s experience as part of the British Royal Family. But that hasn’t stopped media speculation and filmmakers from imagining what life must have been like for Diana, trapped in an arranged, loveless marriage in a royal institution based on stifling conservative norms. But what is intriguing to most, it seems, is Diana’s relationship with her ex-mother-in-law, Queen Elizabeth II.
‘The Queen’ and ‘Spencer’ are fundamentally different films
15 years earlier Spencer hit theaters, Stephen Frears directed the critically acclaimed biographical film The Queenwho played Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II and later brought her the Academy Award for Best Actress. But while the 2006 film’s title might lead viewers to believe it’s just a biopic of the Queen herself, Spencer and The Queen let only one person control the storylines: Princess Diana.
It’s pointless to directly compare the two films for what they are, as they are fundamentally different. Spencer is less of a Princess of Wales biopic and more of a psychological drama film, as a good 95% of the film’s action takes place in Diana’s psyche and her reasons for being driven to the brink of insanity. The Queen ends up somewhere on the biopic spectrum, not exactly a biographical film about one person in particular, but rather how the British royal family along with the British government got intense reactions over their public handling of Diana’s death. But as she is the driving force of both films, it makes for a compelling look at how Spencer and The Queen reverse each other.
The Queen’s Presence in ‘Spencer’
While Queen Elizabeth II does appear in Spencer, played by Stella GonetShe’s less of a character and more of a presence. As the Royal Family gather at Queen’s Sandringham estate in Norfolk for the Christmas holidays, it’s only the presence of Elizabeth that makes a statement rather than a line that actually comes out of her mouth. Everywhere from Diana’s strict daily wardrobe while on vacation to the estate security’s order to sew her bedroom curtains together in an effort to discourage paparazzi photography, Diana’s relentless misfortune is dictated, albeit indirectly, by the orders of the Queen.
Just one look from her at the dinner table, as Diana imagines tearing off her necklace and consuming the pearls, generates a look worth a thousand words, including perhaps, “Behave in the way that is expected of you.” The Queen and Diana only speak to each other once Spencer: When the Queen implies that she, too, was always careful about the outfit she would wear on which day, an interaction that suggests the two women interact a lot more than either one of them cares, admit it. But whether or not Diana spoke about her deteriorating mental health and descent into bulimia due to the pressure to be a woman in the royal family is immaterial. Anyway, as far as Spencer concerned, the queen’s only response is a silence louder than bombs.
How the two films reverse each other
The tone of the Queen and Diana’s only interaction in Spencer is very different from that of Elizabeth and her relatives after the death of the princess in The Queen. It’s more like Prince Philip (James Cromwell) who expresses his contempt for Diana, even in death, considering her a rebellious troublemaker and outcast who has brought nothing but grief and media frenzy to the royal family. However, they fail to realize that their silence in the wake of Diana’s tragic death – which was essentially attributable to paparazzi – will be a media frenzy all of its own.
The typical definition of two things inverting each other is that when one is low, the other is high and vice versa. In case of Spencer and The Queenboth films are an inversion of themselves in that when Diana is low in Spencer, the queen is high: Elizabeth is in her element during the holidays at Sandringham. She is in control and can change the behavior of anyone who dares at a glance. while in The QueenAlthough she passed away tragically, Diana is high: in some ways she has moved to a better place, while also accidentally bringing about the social change of British royal policy that she so desperately needed when she was alive. Elizabeth is low on the film named after her: Faced with mounting public disapproval and ridicule over the royal family’s silence on Diana’s passing, she finally begins to realize just how much power Diana had within the people of her country.
The truth remains ambiguous
in many ways, The Queen is basically about Elizabeth and how she struggles in a world with ever-changing social norms that are very different from the norms instilled in her as a young woman who takes the crown. But what no one in the film wants to admit is that Diana, for better or for worse, represented these very social changes in the face of the royal family. Again, their silence might not have spoken as many words had they been louder in the wake of Diana’s very public struggle for individuality and tolerance. And while Elizabeth’s true feelings for Diana always remain ambiguous in… The Queenit should come as no surprise to anyone that thousands upon thousands (perhaps even millions) in the UK are now standing up for Diana as the hearts of the Queen of Men shook her to the core.
For the presence of the queen in Spencer to have said silently, “Behave as you are expected”, it would be Diana’s death in The Queen that would shatter that glass ceiling. Anyway, it was the public’s fervent and fierce loyalty to the late princess that spoke volumes for the royal family, forcing them to break their silence about a woman for whom, it seems, none of them had much respect. Since the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last month, there has been a lot of attention on social media about how the strict social standards she held up oppressed Diana and in many ways ruined her life. While we may never know for sure what happened somehow, Spencer and The Queen offer several insights into the relationship between two of the world’s most famous women.