When he learned the news that Princess Diana had died, director Ed Perkins was only 11 years old.
Now in his documentary, “The Princess,” Perkins takes a look back at the history of the iconic royal solely through archival footage and public records.
Perkins discussed what drew him to the story in the first place: “I’ve always felt that this is one of the defining stories of our era,” Perkins said. “It does have a lot of the undertones of a kind of Shakespearean saga: love, tragedy, revenge, but one that we all lived through, and kind of at times actively participated in. And you know, like a lot of people, I also felt this kind of strangely personal connection to this story in particular.”
Too Many Diana Films and TV Series?
Coming off a year that featured a number of Diana projects, including Netflix hot series “The Crown,” Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer” and the short lived “Diana: The Musical,” Perkins said he did not grow tired after two years of researching his subject.
Diana Remains an Enigma
“She still, to me, remains a bit of an enigma,” Perkins said. “And at times she does appear to be almost like this blank canvas onto which we can all project, and we can all find in her what we are looking for. And there’s something really interesting about that.”
Response from Royal Family?
When asked what he hopes the response is, if any, from the royal family, Perkins said he hopes they see the effort he put into telling an accurate story.
“I don’t know if they will or won’t watch it,” Perkins said. “I guess I hope that if they do watch it, they feel as though the film we’ve made is fair and balanced. We have tried to be as objective as we can. And we’ve tried to tell the story that we found in the archive, but I would hope they feel it’s a fair portrayal.”
