From Madonna To Elizabeth Debicki, Here Are 10 Hollywood Stars Who Played Princess Diana on Screen
Famous Hollywood Stars who Emulated Princess Diana.
Who wouldn't want to be a people's princess? Although, it is undeniable that there was only one Princess Diana and nobody could come close to her warmth and compassion, a handful of female Hollywood stars tried to "become" her on screen. It's been 25 years since she passed away but her memory still lingers in the hearts of those who adored her, including icons like Madonna, Kristen Stewart, and currently, Elizabeth Debicki (in The Crown) who brought her to life.
1. Kristen Stewart
The Twilight alum played a part in telling the story of the late Princess Diana in the 2001 film Spencer. To transform into the character, she ditched dark locks and a West Coast accent and adopted blonde tresses and British pronunciation. The movie was centered around the time in Diana's life when she spent the Christmas holiday with the royal family at the queen's Sandringham estate in 1991. Also, it was the same time she first considered a divorce from Charles.
2. Madonna
The queen of pop Madonna also took a turn playing the late Princess Diana. However, her part wasn't as big as in a big-budget film, she was fortunate enough to transform into the "people's princess" for a SNL sketch. In 1985, the now-65-year-old hosted Saturday Night Live where she appeared in a Diana skit. The Popular singer performed a moment when she and Charles (played by Jon Lovitz) visited the then United States's First Family, the Reagans, as per TODAY.
3. Catherine Oxenberg
Catherine Oxenberg, the Dynasty star, had the privilege to portray the late Princess Diana twice. Firstly, she played the role in a 1982 television biographical drama film The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana. Later, the now 62-year-old reprised the role 10 years later for the 1992 drama film Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After, depicting the tumultuous marriage of the former royal couple. Interestingly, in real life, Oxenberg's mother Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia is second cousin to King Charles.
4. Serena Scott Thomas
The 62-year-old American actress transformed into Princess Diana for the 1993 NBC biopic Diana: Her True Story. The plot was inspired by a book by Andrew Morton which gave a closer look into the former royal couple's highly volatile and rocky marriage. Thomas played the leading lady opposite David Threlfall's Prince Charles and In 1993, Entertainment Weekly rated the movie a B+ explaining that the director made a "classy-looking movie about a distinctly un-classy aspect of the British upper class."
5. Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts took on the titular role in Oliver Hirschbiegel's Diana, and it premiered in theaters in 2013 with poor reviews, earning an 8% rotten tomatoes score. The film centered around Diana's "love life" in the following two years after her messy divorce with Charles. Although the plot failed to impress the critics, the New York Times praised Watt's fine performance, "Anchored by Ms. Watts's sympathetic performance, it humanizes the woman behind the smile, the helmet hair, and the myth."
6. Jeanna de Waal
Netflix released a show Diana: The Musical which premiered in 2021 just weeks before the same show debuted on Broadway which closed in December 2021 with dull reviews, as reported by The New York Times. The musical centered around Diana's life from the moment she met Charles till her untimely demise in 1997. A two-act production had music and lyrics by David Bryan and Joe DiPietro. However, the show closed down due to the Coronavirus for more than a year.
7. Emma Corrin
Corrin was also a part of the series The Crown, playing the role of iconic Princess Diana. Although the show recounts the life of Queen Elizabeth during her unprecedented reign of 70 years, the storyline drove into the direction of Diana and Charles in its fourth season. Corrin played the role of young Diana alongside Josh O'Connor, who played King Charles. O'Connor told Harpers Bazaar in 2019, "Emma's doing a brilliant job, and [her resemblance to Diana] is breathtakingly accurate."
8. Genevieve O'Reilly
Diana: Last Days of a Princess, a docu-drama series that was mixed with real-life interviews with people who were close to the late princess, documented the dramatic life of Diana leading up to her tragic car accident. Genevieve O'Reilly's portrayal of Diana earned accolades from The New York Times critics, "Diana' doesn't deify the princess. It portrays her as needy but manipulative, loving but flawed, in other words, as a human being," the publication reviewed the scripted drama in 2007.
9. Elizabeth Debicki
The Crown changed its cast to show the progression in the plot and Debicki was another star who portrayed the role of Diana. Emma Corrin, who previously played young Diana, was not the best fit to play the older part in season five. Henceforth, Debicki portrayed Diana throughout the 1990s period and later showcased the breakdown of her toxic marriage with Charles (played by Dominic West) followed by her love interests after divorce. Debicki was also nominated for an Emmy.
10. Julie Cox
A CBS film that was based on the bestselling book, "Princess in Love" chronicled Diana's affair with her former riding instructor. Cox began filming soon after she signed onto the project. PEOPLE reported in 1996, "Cox is no body double for Di, being brunette (they dyed her hair) and, at 5'4″ — six inches shorter. And she's oblivious to Windsor-mania. She never read the book, explaining the reason, "If I read it, I'll have a hard time taking the script seriously."
