Eye-Opening New Princess Diana Film ‘Flips the Script on the Spectator’ According to Royal Experts

We've seen loads of media focus on Princess Diana in the past couple years, from the fourth season of The Crown to the Oscar-nominated Spencer. But with so many different platforms and production companies taking their own approach to covering the life of Lady Di, it's hard to know which titles stand out from the rest.

Luckily for us, on the latest episode of Stream On, co-hosts Phil Mutz and Rachel Gulmi were visited by royal experts and hosts of the Royally Obsessed podcast, Rachel Bowie and Roberta Fiorito, where the quartet discussed the brand-new HBO documentary The Princess. This movie—which is composed of archival audio and video footage—explores the life of Princess Diana in a way we've never seen, and according to these four, it is well worth a watch.

During their visit to Stream On, the Royally Obsessed podcast hosts explained why The Princess resonated so strongly with them. Bowie began by pointing out that we're coming off a year that featured a number of fictionalized portrayals of the Princess of Wales, and she said, “This [documentary] in particular was so unique...because it really flips the script on the voyeur—the spectator's role in Diana's life, and what we kind of created with all our consumption.”

Fiorito agreed, adding, “That's the whole vibe of the movie is you kind of feel like you're a voyeur in all of this, and seeing it just through clips edited together in the right timeline—it's like The Crown, but real-life footage.”

Mutz chimed in by saying the doc shows how the press chipped away at the Princess of Wales for years, and Fiorito said, “I think you're so right, Phil...it also turns the lens on all of us, like our need for more of Diana.”

But while The Princess highlights the toxic dissection of Princess Diana's life, it also raises a larger question about the privacy of celebrities in general.

Bowie mentions that on one of the latest episodes of Royally Obsessed, she and Fiorito discuss how we can see parallels between Princess Diana's situation and the way in which Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are treated by the press now, and she adds, “The Princess is so enlightening to our role in all of this.”

So, what was the final consensus? Although the group said the movie was heavy, they all agreed that The Princess was a must-watch.

Bowie said she “absolutely [recommended]” it, and Fiorito said the documentary was “fascinating” and would “certainly hold [the viewer's] attention.”

Gulmi called it a “must-watch” and also noted that the director of the film, Ed Perkins, said “he wanted to tell this story in a different way that hasn't been told before” and she appreciated that new perspective.

We definitely know what we'll be streaming this weekend. The Princess is now available to stream on HBO Max. Check out the rest of the latest Stream On episode to hear all of the group's thoughts, as well as their other recommendations for the week.

Oh, and always remember to keep calm and Stream On.

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