''The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana'' is a 1982 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

that depicts the

wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer The wedding of the Prince of Wales (future King Charles III) and Lady Diana Spencer took place on Wednesday, 29 July 1981, at St Paul's Cathedral in London, United Kingdom. The groom was the heir apparent to the British throne, and the bride was ...

. The film was directed by

Peter Levin Peter Levin is an American director of film, television and theatre. Career Since 1967, Levin has amassed a large number of credits directing episodic television and television films. Some of his television series credits include '' Love Is ...

and starred

Catherine Oxenberg Catherine Oxenberg (born September 22, 1961) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime time soap opera ''Dynasty''. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and Howard Oxe ...

, Christopher Baines,

Olivia de Havilland Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland (; July 1, 1916July 26, 2020) was a British-American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. ...

Dana Wynter Dana Wynter (born Dagmar Winter; 8 June 19315 May 2011) was a German-born British actress, who was raised in the United Kingdom and southern Africa. She appeared in film and television for more than 40 years, beginning in the 1950s. Her best-know ...

, Stewart Granger and Ray Milland. It originally aired September 20, 1982, on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

.Film information
at Diana's Legacy

Cast

Lady Diana Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...

*Christopher Baines -

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

- Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother *

- Queen Elizabeth II * Ray Milland - Mr. Griffiths * Stewart Granger -

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from E ...

Holland Taylor Holland Virginia Taylor (born January 14, 1943) is an American actress. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on ABC's ''The Practice'' (1998–2003). ...

Frances Shand Kydd Frances Ruth Shand Kydd (previously Spencer, ''née'' Roche; 20 January 1936 – 3 June 2004) was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was the maternal grandmother of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectivel ...

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, (24 January 192429 March 1992), styled Viscount Althorp until June 1975, was a British nobleman, military officer, and courtier. He was the father of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the maternal grandfather ...

Reception

The movie debuted on United States television on the

network on Monday, September 20, 1982, and was the most watched prime-time television show of the week, with a 24.0 Nielsen rating and 37 share.(4 October 1982)
New season off to semi-start
''Broadcasting'', p.50 It outperformed

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's '' Charles and Diana: A Royal Love Story'', which had aired three days earlier but had been only the 28th most watched show in America for the prior week.(29 September 1982)
CBS romance with royalty wins Nielsen-race crown
''Arizona Republic'' (

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. ne ...

) John J. O'Connor, television critic for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', found that the movie was "much more fixated on the purely romantic possibilities of the story" of Charles and Diana compared to its ABC competition. Instead of touching on any contemporary problems in Britain, the film provides "an outrageously gooey theme song and periodic helicopter shots of stunning countryside," and "emotional high points" such as Diana deciding to get a hair cut. O'Connor opined that

played the

Queen Mother A queen mother is a former queen, often a queen dowager, who is the mother of the monarch, reigning monarch. The term has been used in English since the early 1560s. It arises in hereditary monarchy, hereditary monarchies in Europe and is also u ...

"with beatific elegance" and

played Queen Elizabeth II "with infinite reserve." O'Connor, John J. (20 September 1982)
'The Royal Romance' on CBS
''

Tom Shales Thomas William Shales (born November 3, 1944) is an American writer and retired critic of television programming and operations. He was a television critic for ''The Washington Post'' from 1977 to 2010, for which Shales received the Pulitzer Pr ...

' review for ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' was a great deal less kind, disliking the fairytale nature of the movie. He called it a piece of "slack-jawed heraldic voyeurism incapable of, and apparently uninterested in, transforming remote news figures into believable mortals." Shales preferred the ABC movie, calling it "48 times better," and decrying Diana's representation as "something of a Pollyanna, or a Cinderella - a sweet innocent sprite upon whom a fairy godmother bestowed a few crucial wishes." Shales, Tom (20 September 1982)
CBS Bows too Deeply to Charles and Diane
''

Production

The movie was filmed in

Westbury, New York The Incorporated Village of Westbury is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. It is located about east of Manhattan. The population was 15,404 at the 2020 census. History The firs ...

;

Brewster, New York Brewster is a village and the principal settlement within the town of Southeast in Putnam County, New York. Its population was 2,390 at the time of the 2010 census. The village, which is the most densely populated portion of the county, was nam ...

; and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, as well as in England.Corry, John (26 June 1982)
Brief on the Arts
''

'' That the ABC and CBS films debuted three days apart was not a coincidence. CBS had planned to show ''Royal Romance'' in December as a

Hallmark A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term '' hallmark'' can a ...

-sponsored pre-Christmas film, but then moved the air date back to September, even before the official start of the new ratings season. ABC then jumped their movie ahead of CBS, so late in the game that ''

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media company that provides television program listings information as well as entertainment and television-related news. The company sold its print magazine division, TV Guide Magazine LLC, in 2008. Corpora ...

'' did not list it.Bedell, Sally (24 August 1982)
TV Season: Caution is the Keynote
''

'' (this article reported on August 24, 1982, that ABC believed CBS would show ''Romance'' on September 27) When one reviewer asked to get a preview of either movie, he was told in one case "Are you kidding? They're still gluing the tape together."Unger, Aurther (17 September 1982
Re-creating the royal wedding -- and network news troubles
''

Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

''Hanauer, Joan (14 September 1982)
Substitute Witness

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th c ...

(the ''Hallmark'' film for December 1982 ended up being a remake of ''

Witness for the Prosecution In law, a witness is someone who has knowledge about a matter, whether they have sensed it or are testifying on another witnesses' behalf. In law a witness is someone who, either voluntarily or under compulsion, provides testimonial evidence, e ...

'')Clark, Kenneth R. (15 September 1982)
TV World
''UPI'' (as of September 15, 1982, UPI was reporting that the ABC did not have an air date, even though it ended up airing on September 17)

Legacy

As is typical of television movies developed to leverage the popularity of current events, ''The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana'' has been called a "forgettable" movie with only occasional press references (such as that it was Oxenburg's acting debut). The movie has never been officially released on VHS or DVD. In 2012, the ''New York Times'' reported on a brief spat over the credits for the film, which is likely the most ever written about the movie since 1982, albeit about a minor issue. A dispute arose over whether

Janet Grillo Janet Grillo is an American filmmaker. Early life and education Grillo grew up in New Jersey and moved to New York City upon graduating college. She graduated magna cum laude with honors in theatre from Wesleyan University and later received ...

could properly claim a "story writer" credit, though it was agreed that she did co-write a story outline for the film.Rohter, Larry (3 September 2012)
Dispute Erupts at N.Y.U. Over Credits for 1982 TV Movie
''

'' In 2011, producer

Linda Yellen Linda Yellen is an American director, producer and writer of film and television, (born in New York City). As a producer some of her credits are '' Playing for Time'' (1980), ''The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana'' (1982) and ''Second Serve' ...

returned to the well using the next generation of British royalty to direct the television movie '' William & Catherine: A Royal Romance''.(31 May 2011)
'William and Kate: A Royal Love Story' movie will show the effect of Princess Diana on the couple
''Daily News'' (New York) (

)

References

External links

Full film online
YouTube.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Romance of Charles and Diana, The 1982 television films 1982 films 1980s biographical drama films 1980s English-language films American biographical drama films CBS network films Films about Diana, Princess of Wales Biographical films about British royalty Films directed by Peter Levin 1980s American films