Kristen Stewart Channels Princess Diana’s Heartbreak in ‘Spencer’ Poster
The heartbreak that reportedly surrounded the private life of Princess Diana is used as the setting for a new poster promoting the film Spencer starring Kristen Stewart. The official photo for the film, directed by Pablo Larraín, was released on Aug. 25. It depicts the beloved royal in a moment of deep emotional pain.
What is ‘Spencer’ about?
Women’s Wear Daily reports that the film follows the late princess over one Christmas holiday weekend in 1991. Princess Diana spends the festive season with the royal family at Queen Elizabeth II’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. It has been alleged this particular weekend was pivotal in the 1992 separation of Princess Diana and Prince Charles.
The drama takes its title from Diana’s maiden name. Poldark star Jack Farthing plays Charles. The cast includes Timothy Spall, Sally Hawkins, Sean Harris, Olga Hellsing, and Thomas Douglas.
‘Spencer’s’ jaw-dropping poster
The official poster for Spencer shows a distraught Princess Diana. Her face is buried deep into the folds of her billowing dress. Stewart turns away from the camera. The back of her ivory-colored gown sparkles against the dark background.
Film company NEON reports Spencer will be an “imagining” of what happened before the dissolution of the royals’ marriage. The official release claims, “Though rumors of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at the Queen’s Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. Consequently, things will be profoundly different.”
Kristen Stewart portrayed Princess Diana’s conflict in the trailer
Members of the press viewed the first trailer for Spencer during CinemaCon. The annual movie-theater convention screened the clip on Aug. 25. According to Deadline Stewart, in character as Diana, arrives at Sandringham for the Christmas weekend. The royal is resplendent, wearing a silver gown for a family portrait. Diana is seen as joyful. However, there are also moments of deep sorrow.
Diana and Charles discuss the media’s intense scrutiny of her life. Diana feels the center of public attention. Charles responds by telling Diana there has to be “two of you.” This means both a public and a private persona. The prince cites his wife’s apparent lack of desire to conform to royal standards as a major issue in their problems.
Charles shows his anger at talk surrounding claims his wife was “delayed,” suggesting she was having an affair. She, in turn, references his reported mistress at the time, Camilla Parker Bowles.
Larrain explains to Town & Country that his version of Diana’s story is about identity. “She’s a woman who, in the journey of the movie, decides and realizes that she wants to be the woman she was before she met Charles.”
Kristen Stewart spoke about depicting the beloved royal
The actor spoke about taking on the role in a November 2020 interview with Jimmy Kimmel.
“It’s hard to not feel protective of her,” Stewart says of portraying the people’s princess. “She was so young. Everyone’s perspective is different, so there will not be one interpretation. The movie takes place over three days, and it’s this really poetic, internal imagining of what that might have felt like, rather than giving new information.”
The biopic premieres at Venice Film Festival in September. Spencer makes its theatrical debut on Nov. 5.
