In the decades following Diana’s untimely mysterious death, the princess of Wales has been a subject of endless fascination. Her divorce from Prince Charles because of his extra-marital affairs, and the emotional distress of public image shattered her.

Her life and death have inspired numerous films, shows, documentaries, and books. And followed by the very penetrative and insightful portrayal of the princess by Kristen Stewart has rekindled interest in Princess Diana films. She was said to be the princess of English hearts. In this article, we cover films about Diana and her relationship with Camilla and Charles.

Doubtlessly, one of the most popular members of the British royal family, Princess Diana has been portrayed in several popular culture movies. Diana, the princess of Wales has been voguish for a long time and even after her death, she is still admired for her activism and glamor.

The wife of King Charles III and mother of princes Harry and William regretfully passed away in 1997 in a car accident. In this article, we will provide a list of 15 movies presenting the life of Princess Diana that celebrate her legacy.

1. Spencer

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Jack Farthing, Sally Hawkins, Timothy Spall
IMDb Rating:6.6/10

Released in 2021, Spencer talks about Diana’s difficulties as she fails to conform to the pressures of royal tradition. The film also exhibits the accentuating mental breakdown of the princess owing to the knowledge of her husband’s affair.

It is a psychological drama directed by Larrain. Popular actress Kristen Stewart portrays Diana in the film. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as the leading lady.

During Christmas celebrations, the largely ignored princess drives around in Norfolk. As she is emotionally distressed and continues to drive; she comes upon her childhood home. It shows Princess Diana and her possession by Anne Boleyn. In a beautiful display of this psychological possession, she ingests pearls in a soup given to her by Prince Charles. This is a story of Princess Diana, outside the shadows of Charles and the Queen

Spencer is considered one of the best films ever made about Princess Diana.

2. Diana

Cast: Naomi Watts, Naveen Andrews, Harry Holland, Charles Edwards
IMDb Rating: 5.5/10

A biographical drama on Princess Diana, Diana exhibits the events in the life of the princess after her divorce from Charles, the Prince of Wales. Directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel, the movie presents Naomi Watts as Diana.

The film commences with her very public divorce. Diana famously had problems finding her position in the British Royal Family, but she has finally been able to break free. In this film, Diana falls in love with a Pakistani Doctor. The film also shows her visits to Southern Africa to campaign against war and violence. The princess in real life was revered for her fashion, and the film truthfully recreates it. This is a movie about Princess Diana navigating her celebrity status and her tumultuous personal life.

The screenplay of the film is based on the 2001 book Diana: Her Last Love by Kate Snell. Made on a budget of $15 million, the film grossed over $21 million upon its release in 2013.

3. The Queen

Directed by Stephen Frears, The Queen does not depict Diana’s life but portrays the endeavors of Queen Elizabeth II who has to deal with a series of events following the death of Princess Diana.

Set in the backdrop of Diana’s death, the film is a biographical drama accurately depicting the real-life events in the queen’s life.

Released in 2013, the movie garnered great critical acclaim. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards. Helen Mirren who played Queen Elizabeth II received the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role.

The Queen is rated with an admirable 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

4. The Princess

The Princess is a documentary on the life of Princess Diana. It calls on recently revealed testimony and rarely-seen archival footage about the Princess of Wales and displays her most iconic moments.

Released recently in 2022, the documentary is directed by Ed Perkins. Its narrative is in the present tense and is full of footage of Diana from the 1980s and 1990s. The Princess is rated 85% on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.4 out of 10 on IMDb.

5. Diana: 7 Days

Another documentary on Princess Diana, Diana: 7 Days is the last of two documentaries commissioned by Prince William and Prince Harry to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the death of their mother. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom by BBC on 27 August 2017.

The film interviews Diana’s family and close friends and shares their stories about how Diana’s death affected them and the world.

It is rated 7.5 on IMDb.

6. Diana, Our Mother: Her Life And Legacy

Diana, Our Mother: Her Life And Legacy was the first documentary commissioned by Prince William and Prince Harry to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of their mother. It was aired in 2017 before Diana: 7 Days.

Narrated by Amanda Redman, the film showcases previously unseen photographs, and archival footage from the princess’s childhood and focuses on her impact on her two sons. It is directed by Ashley Gething.

7. Charles & Diana: Unhappily Ever After (1992)

Cast: Catherine Oxenberg, Benedict Taylor, David Quilter, Alan Manson
IMDb Rating:5.2/10

Released in 1992, before the death of Princess Diana, Charles, and Diana: Unhappily Ever After traces the failed marriage between the two titular characters. It traces the tribulations in their married life.

This tv drama film is directed by John Power. Catherine Oxenberg also has been cast as Princess Diana before. This film shows the true complication in the relationship between Diana and Charles because of his relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles’.

Oxenberg is of Royal descent herself and has therefore brilliantly played the role. Oxenberg is extremely aware of the multi-faceted psychological turmoil of Princess Diana. The humane depiction adds beautiful nuances to the movie. It traces the early problems of their marriage, as they are fundamentally different people with completely different sets of interests. Diana finding out through the press about her husband’s infidelities is documented. Diana becomes estranged from her husband but she still has to continue to be a good parent to her children.

The film is a television movie distributed by AbC and directed by Power. Catherine Oxenberg stars in the film as Princess Diana and Roger Rees as Prince Charles.

8. Diana: In Her Own Words

Diana: In Her Own Words is a television documentary that presents the life of Princess Diana narrated by herself. The film does so by utilizing the recordings Princess Diana made for the book that was written by Andrew Morton.

Rated highly with 7.8 on IMDb, the film is regarded as one of the better documentaries about the late princess. It is directed by Tom Jennings and David Tillman and was aired on 6 August 2017.

9. The Women of Windsor

Another television film about Princess Diana from 1992 is The Women of Windsor. It is a Canadian movie conveying stories from the lives of Diana, Princess of Wales, and Sarah, Duchess of York.

Directed by Steven Hilliard Stern, the biographical drama was shot in Toronto and London. Princess Diana is played by Nicola Formby while Sallyanne Law portrays Duchess Sarah.

IMDb rates the film 5.7.

10. Charles and Diana: 1983

Charles and Diana: 1983 is a documentary on the famous royal tour of Charles and Diana in Australia. The film depicts the infamous tour in a different light, highlighting the cracks in the two-year-old royal marriage.

Directed by Jordan Hill, the movie boasts a good rating of 6.9 on IMDb. It was released in 2021 and is narrated by Paul Burrell and Ingrid Seward.

11. Princess In Love (1996)

Cast: Julie Cox, Christopher Villiers Julia St. John, Christopher Bowen
IMDb Rating: 4.2/10

Princess Diana’s relationship with Prince Charles was disappointing because of his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles. Directed by David Greene, the film is adapted from an Anna Pasternak novel. In this film, we see the unconditional love, support, and encouragement the Princess received from James when people around her had failed.

The most favorite Princess of Wales had a publicly problematized marriage. Following the public condemnation of Diana’s former riding instructor, this telefilm attempts to redefine their relationship.

Based on the book of the same name by Anna Pasternak, Princess in Love depicts the shocking real-life love affair between Princess Diana and Captain James Hewitt, her former riding instructor. The romance drama is directed by David Greene and was released in 1996, before the princess’s death.

The film features Julie Cox as Princess Diana and Christopher Villiers as Captain James Hewitt.

12. Diana: The Musical

Cast: Jeanna de Waal, Roe Hartrampf, Judy Kaye, Tomas Matos
IMDb Rating:4.4/10

This musical is adapted from Joe DiPietro’s book and a live performance is streaming on Netflix! The unusual humor and pathos of the music definitely make it worth a watch.

Diana: The Musical exhibits Princess Diana in her early days when she got married to a prince she barely knew at the age of 19 and rose to fame. The musical brings to light, the troublesome life of Diana getting accustomed to the royal family and a loveless marriage.

This musical chronicles the personal and public life of Princess Diana. This film reimagines the struggles of Princess Diana in a loveless marriage, with two sons and a role she didn’t completely know how to fulfill. It is about the triumph of Princess Diana in face of such personal adversities. This musical shows how Diana was deceived into taking on a faithless marriage.

13. Diana: Last Days of a Princess

As the name suggests, Diana: Last Days of a Princess showcases the events in Princess Diana’s life leading up to her death. It is a television documentary distributed by Netflix.

Directed by Richard Dale, it was released on 30 July 2007. JustWatch suggests the movie with 69%.

14. Whatever Love Means

Cast: Michelle Duncan, Alexandra Moen, Laurence Fox, Lucy Brown
IMDb Rating: 5.4/10

Whatever Love Means is a television film directed by David Blair. This film makes a sympathetic portrait of the relationship between Camilla Parker Bowles and Prince Charles. The extra-marital affair is presented in the film from the 1970s.

Whatever Love Means presents a different side of the story of Prince Charles and Diana wherein it exhibits the love affair between Prince Charles and Camilla, his mistress before his marriage to Diana.

The film opens with Prince Charles and Camilla Shand meeting at a polo match. They are shown to fall in love but Prince Charles is called to serve in the army and Camilla ends up marrying her former lover. The two pursue their friendship as Charles gets married.

A reporter tells Diana how she and Prince Charles look very much in life; the princess replies “oh, yes. Absolutely” and Charles says “whatever ‘in love’ means”. This sums up their relationship as a deafening silence falls.

15. The Murder of Princess Diana

Cast: Jennifer Morrison, Lucien Jean-Baptiste, Kevin McNally, Jules Werner
IMDb Rating: 5.1/10

This film directed by Jennifer Morrison was a fictionalized adaptation of the novel by Noel Botham. It was intended for television but has remained a cult classic, rekindling the interest of people in the mysterious death of the Princess of Wales.

The romantic interests and the tensile drama of the film interest the conspiracy theorists.

It is an account of the events that lead up to the princess’s untimely death. Her companion Dodi Fayed and her chauffeur were also victims of the accident. Dodi Fayed was a film producer of Egyptian descent and was her lover at the time.

The Murder of Princess Diana is a fictionalized tale about the death of the Princess of Wales. The story is about a journalist, Rachael who decides to trace the events that led to the death of Princess Diana, her companion Dodi Fayed and her chauffeur Henri Paul.

16. Diana: Her True Story

Cast: Serena Scott Thomas, David Threlfall, Anne Stallybrass, Jeremy Child
IMDb Rating: 4.8/10

This television film directed by Kevin Connor is a refreshing view of the life of the Princess. It is adapted from the book of the same name.

The film retells the story of an introverted woman becoming the most popular Princess of Wales; all of this under tremendous public scrutiny and personal dilemmas. It takes a long look at the reaction of Princess Diana to her husband’s indifference. The troubled wife overcoming adversities is truly heart-touching. It is one of the earliest films to depict the strain of her marriage.

17. Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story

Cast: Caroline Bliss, David Robb, Mona Washbourne, Rod Taylor
IMDb Rating: 5/10

Directed by James Goldstone, this movie is about the wedding of Princess Diana to Prince Charles.

Charle’s great-uncle advises him to get married before his violent death. The Prince was also being coerced by both his family and the press to court Lady Diana Spencer. The Prince soon starts to become charmed by Lady Diana as she has a close relationship with the Royal Family. Diana, in this film beautifully navigates the intrusion of the press and the public, as she pursues her relationship with the Prince.