Playing Princess Diana on screen just never ends well
It must surely be the most difficult job in show business, playing the Princess of Wales. And it never ends well for those who attempt to take on Diana’s tiara.
Opinion
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Who in their right mind would want to be the next Princess Diana?
Emma Corrin, that’s who. The little-known, 23-year-old British actress is a brave woman to take on what must surely be the most difficult job in show business — playing the Princess of Wales in The Crown.
So far, the series has had great success in recreating real people and events for our viewing pleasure. Claire Foy was utterly believable as a young Queen Elizabeth. Matt Smith was the right mix of brooding petulance as Prince Philip. And despite his statuesque frame, American actor John Lithgow was able to impress as the far more diminutive Winston Churchill.
Capturing the much-beloved Diana, however, is a herculean task. She is, after all, a woman whose story and image are as familiar to many as their own family members.
The Crown’s creator Peter Morgan believes Corrin has the “range and complexity to portray an extraordinary woman who went from anonymous teenager to the most iconic woman of her generation”.
But history shows that anyone who attempts to take Diana’s tiara is viewed with as much scrutiny as anything Meghan Markle’s relatives say or do.
Our very own Naomi Watts has given many critically acclaimed performances during her stellar career but when she whacked on an ill-fitting blonde wig and adopted a British accent to play Di the results were cringeworthy to say the least and she took a fair whacking from the critics.
Ditto Dynasty actress Catherine Oxenberg’s earlier portrayal in an OTT telemovie, The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana.
A real-life royal of Serbian lineage, Oxenberg claims she took on the difficult task of doing Di with the blessing of her second cousin, Prince Charles.
Charles supposedly told Oxenberg that he hoped she would bring some “dignity” to the tawdry production about his ill-fated marriage. Sadly she did not. Not even Oxenberg’s persuasive pedigree and personal relationship with Diana could save the production from being a cheesy soap at best.
And what about poor Meghan Markle? She may not be trying to play Diana on screen but she’s certainly trying to fill her shoes as the People’s Princess and copping constant criticism for trying.
George Clooney recently leapt to the defence of his mate, the Duchess of Sussex, pointing out the similarities between Markle’s life and that of her late mother-in-law.
“She’s a woman who is pregnant and she has been pursued and vilified and chased in the same way that Diana was and it’s history repeating itself,” Clooney said. “And we know how that ends.”
Clooney is right. It never ends well for those who try to emulate Diana.
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