''Diana'' is a 2013 biographical

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

film directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel and written by Stephen Jeffreys. Naomi Watts stars as

Diana, Princess of Wales 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 Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William, ...

, with

Naveen Andrews Naveen William Sidney Andrews (born 17 January 1969) is a British-American actor. He is best known for his role as Sayid Jarrah in the television series '' Lost'' (2004–2010), for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primet ...

, Douglas Hodge, and Geraldine James in supporting roles. Based on Kate Snell's 2001 book ''Diana: Her Last Love'', the film focuses on the final two years of Diana's life, particularly her secret relationship with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. ''Diana'' had its world premiere in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

on 5 September 2013 and was released in the UK on 20 September 2013. The film received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics upon release, with sharp criticism for its direction, screenplay, and Watts' portrayal of the late Princess. It performed relatively well at the box office, grossing $21.7 million worldwide against a budget of $15 million.

Plot

The film depicts the last two years of

's life, beginning with her

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...

from

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. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, a ...

. Diana meets and falls in love with

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. The film highlights her humanitarian work, including her tours of

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

in her campaign against the use of

land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

s. It also shows her trips to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, Pakistan,

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and ultimately

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, with detailed recreations of her real-life outfits. Diana’s relationship with Dr. Khan eventually ends due to his desire for a private life and discomfort with her

celebrity Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group due to the attention given to them by mass media. The word is also used to refer to famous individuals. A person may attain celebrity status by having great w ...

status. The film portrays her subsequent affair with Anglo-Egyptian billionaire Dodi Fayed as a calculated effort to make Dr. Khan jealous. The story culminates in the fatal car crash that killed Diana, Fayed, and their driver in the Pont de l'Alma Tunnel in Paris—though the film does not re-enact the crash itself.

Cast

* Naomi Watts as

as Dr. Hasnat Khan *

Cas Anvar Cas Anvar (; born 15 March 1966) is a Canadian actor known for his role in the SyFy/Amazon Prime Video science fiction television series '' The Expanse''. Early life Anvar was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, to Iranian parents. They moved to Mont ...

as Dodi Fayed * Laurence Belcher as Prince William * Harry Holland as Prince Harry * Douglas Hodge as

Paul Burrell Paul Burrell (born 6 June 1958) is a former servant of the British Royal Household and latterly butler to Diana, Princess of Wales. Background and Royal Household career Burrell was born and raised in Grassmoor, Derbyshire, a coal-mining ...

* Geraldine James as Oonagh Toffolo * Charles Edwards as Patrick Jephson * Mary Stockley as Assistant *

Juliet Stevenson Juliet Anne Virginia Stevenson, (born 30 October 1956) is an English actress of stage and screen. She is known for her role in the film '' Truly, Madly, Deeply'' (1991), for which she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Le ...

as Sonia

Production

The screenplay, based on Kate Snell's 2001 book ''Diana: Her Last Love'', was written by Stephen Jeffreys. Robert Bernstein and Douglas Rae produced the film for Ecosse Films. Key scenes involving Diana and Dodi Fayed on his family yacht, ''Jonikal'', were filmed on the luxury charter

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

''Princess Iolanthe''. The opening and closing scenes at the

Hôtel Ritz Paris The Ritz Paris is a hotel in central Paris, overlooking the Place Vendôme in the city's 1st arrondissement of Paris, 1st arrondissement. A member of The Leading Hotels of the World marketing group, the Ritz Paris is ranked among the most luxur ...

' Imperial Suite were filmed at Fetcham Park House in Fetcham,

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

Reception

''Diana'' received overwhelmingly negative reviews from critics upon release, with sharp criticism for its direction, screenplay, and Naomi Watts' portrayal of the late Princess. On

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, it holds an 8% approval rating based on 97 reviews with an average score of 3.5/10. The critical consensus states: "Naomi Watts tries hard in the title role, but ''Diana'' buries her efforts under a shoddy script and clumsy direction." On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, the film has a score of 35 out of 100 based on 28 reviews. David Edwards from ''The Mirror'' criticized the film as a "cheap and cheerless effort that looks like a Channel 5 mid-week matinee" and quipped that " Wesley Snipes in a blonde wig would be more convincing," awarding the film 1 star out of 5. Peter Bradshaw of ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' also gave it 1 star out of 5, dubbing the film "car crash cinema." However, some reviewers praised Watts' performance despite the overall negative reception. Joshua Rothkopf of ''Time Out New York'' called Watts's performance "extraordinary" and rated the film 3 stars out of 5, describing it as "a restrained biopic that affords its subject the romantic privacy that life denied her." Nigel Andrews of the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' praised Watts’ performance, saying "once again Watts supplies the wattage" but noted that her role felt "frighteningly isolated... the compensating passion in a torpid drama." Jim Schembri of '' 3AW'' also praised Watts’ "impressive performance" but felt the film "could have done with another half-hour putting more meat onto the bones of these underdeveloped chapters of her story." Dominic Corry of ''flicks.co.nz'' criticized the film as "bad in the blandest way possible" and lamented that "Watts is let down by the Mills & Boon-level script." Fionnuala Halligan of ''

Screen International ''Screen International'' is a British film magazine covering the international film business. It is published by Media Business Insight, a British B2B media company which also owned '' Broadcast''. The magazine is primarily aimed at those involv ...

'' echoed this, saying that Watts’ "brave performance should not be underestimated given the poverty of the dialogue and the pressure of the part."

Awards

Naomi Watts received a nomination for the

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actress Razzie Award for Worst Actress is an award presented at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst actress of the previous year. Male actors performing in drag are eligible, as it is intended as a humorous award. The following is a list ...

for her performances in both ''Diana'' and '' Movie 43'', but lost to

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of Madea, Mabel "Madea" Simmons, a tough elderly woman, and also portrays her brother Joe Simmons and her ...

for his performance in drag in ''A Madea Christmas''.

Soundtrack

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Diana (Film) 2013 films 2013 biographical drama films 2013 independent films 2013 romantic drama films Belgian biographical drama films Belgian independent films Belgian romantic drama films British biographical drama films British independent films British romantic drama films English-language French films English-language Belgian films English-language Swedish films Films about Diana, Princess of Wales Films set in 1996 Films set in 1997 Films set in London Films shot in London Films about interracial romance Films directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel Fiction with unreliable narrators French biographical drama films French independent films French romantic drama films Swedish biographical drama films Swedish independent films Swedish romantic drama films Films scored by David Holmes (musician) Biographical films about British royalty 2010s English-language films 2010s British films 2010s French films 2010s Swedish films Le Pacte films 2010s Belgian films English-language biographical drama films English-language independent films English-language romantic drama films