Spencer: Heavy I S t He Head tH at Wear S t He croW n at We ar H cro

Written by: Natalie Woo Designed by: Chan Tin Wing

Through revisiting the plight of Princess Diana during a royal family Christmas vacation, the 2021 film Spencer offers a reasoning against the social norms that sets out to dilute our awareness of famous people’s humanity as well as the mental toll she endured along with her royal title. Unlike the renowned TV Series “The Crown”, this movie shifts the focus to the narrative of late Princess Diana, whose story has become a cautionary tale for how celebrities are often dehumanized and stripped of their right to privacy, something many might find acceptable when a person reaches a certain level of fame.

Spencer spans over 3 days in Christmas 1991 (Christmas Eve, Christmas and Boxing Day), with the royal family gathers at the Sandringham Estate to celebrate the seemingly joyous and festive holiday. The film first opens with Diana driving along the British countryside, unaccompanied by any guards or security — it was a rare moment of freedom before the upcoming rigid formalities that awaits her at the royal mansion.

“varIouS accountS deScrIbe Her, already arIou S er, deeply unHappy WItH Her lIfe aS a royal, appy er a fIndIng tHe HolIdayS partIcularly tor- IndIng H S turouS” – tHe cut (2021) ” ut

The film tried to envision how trapped and helpless she must have felt, allowing view-ers to peek through the lens of Diana’s troubled headspace. Hence, Spencer could also be deemed as a psychodrama with confusing shots and unsettling scenes, such as how it captures the claustrophobia of royal stares as Diana marches into the dining room and the way her soup that she was ingesting had turned into crushed pearls in her mouth in a split second. These all accurately depict her inner turmoil and anxiety and is a poignant attempt in humanizing a widely known figure by displaying her mental fragilities. In fact, Diana did not even try to conceal her dissatisfaction to the customs and rules set by the royal family. An epitome of this would be how Diana’s former butler recalled her being disoriented and annoyed by the number of outfit changes involved in the day’s festivities, another tradition that features heavily in Spencer.

“It IS our MajeSty and tHe HouSe of WIndSor I aM pledged to Serve. and I Speak ur tHe H e of I aM a S WItH tHeIr voIce.” – Major gregory t t Ice.”

Major Gregory is in fact not a real character that existed in real life, but was served as a personification of the constraints and pressure of the expectations placed upon her in the film. Spencer depicted how despite nobody in the House of Windsor was cruel nor dared to disobey her order, she felt invisible to the royal family, including her husband — yet being too visible to the media via incessant media attention. Simply put, the only people she genuinely wanted attention from mostly ignored her while the rest of the world hounded her nonstop. These constant stressors accompanied by the royal family’s indifference ultimately drove her to self-harm, suicide attempts as well as severe bulimia.

“ I tHInk tHe MovIe doeS a proper depIctIon of dIana’S Internal dIStreSS. and HI e ov e a ana’ tHat’S WHat I care about. an eatIng dISorder IS never juSt an eatIng dISor- at’ WHat I n juSt der.” – pablo lorraIne, dIrector of Spencer ablo l aS SaId by prInce cHarleS In tHe fIlM, “tHere HaS to be tWo of you. tHere’S tWo I p I Ha to of of Me, tWo of fatHer and tWo of everyone. tHere IS tHe real one and tHe one t o and tWo of ere one and tHe tHey take pIctureS of.” ey p

One of the most gripping scenes was how Diana imagines ripping off the pearl necklace that her husband gifted her, a necklace she knew he also bought for his mistress, and eating the pearls with her soup in a crazed display. This actually served as a metaphor of how she was always asked to swallow her pains and get over them – get over the affair, get over the eating disorder and just stop being so difficult. “ I didn’t like myself and I was ashamed that I could not cope with the pressures.” , as the late Princess Diana admitted in an interview with BBC in 1995. By featuring scenes where the two frequently disagreed at each other for a trifling sum of matters, the film paved way to her crumbling marriage with Prince Charles, which stemmed from his longtime affair with another woman.

The movie also brought up the theme of “Liberation”, though as irony as it may sound. In the film, we can see how Diana tried to find bits and pieces of freedom within the confines of her situation: she had her little “getaway” drive alone in the countryside, she just picked outfits she felt like wearing that day instead of adhering to the clothing choices recommended by the royal family. For a woman who was living in a system where every significant decision was made by someone else, these small choices and acts of defiance gave her a feeling of control. For her, it was tremendously liberating, especially in an institution that does not allow you to cultivate your own identity.

At times, she must have wondered about a life where she didn’t choose to be Princess of Wales and got the chance to just be Diana Spencer. The night before her engagement, Diana’s bodyguard reportedly told her, “ I just want you to know that this is your last night of freedom ever in the rest of your life, so make the most of it.” By then, Diana was only nineteen. Her existence outside of the house is for the sole purpose of public consumption, a commodity and her experience as a human being serve as widespread entertainment. Unlike politicians, movie stars or athletes who chose to be in public eye, they had no choice since they were born in a particular family or married into it. Understandably, the stringent manners and rituals had gotten on Diana’s nerves and she was exhausted by it all.

“Here, tHere IS only one tenSe. tHere IS no future, tHe paSt and tHe preSent one tenSe. no are tHe SaMe tHIng.” H S Me t ng.”

Despite feeling isolated and abandoned, she still put on a smile whenever cameras came flashing by, perpetuating a lie and upholding an ideal image of the royal family. Diana seemed to have a more down to earth and approachable demeanor than her affluent peers and new family, which constitutes the major reason why the media found her so endearing and relatable. While wealth has the capacity to solve most of our problems, it could not, however, shield people from emotional pain. As the author of Diana’s autobiography Diana: Her True Story writes, “ For all their privileges, their legions of servants, their chauffeur-driven cars, private yachts and planes, they were prisoners of society’s expectations and puppets of the system.”

The film ends on a rather hopeful note, with Diana escaping royal life with her beloved children in tow, pondering ahead about an uncertain future and let viewers briefly imagine a world where she could just be herself. However, reality is of course far from perfect, as the opening of the film states, “ It is a fable from a true tragedy”, and Diana remains as a fellow prisoner in the House of Windsor.