Top 10 Portrayals of Princess Diana in Movies & TV

#10: Elizabeth Debicki “The Crown” (2016-) Season 5 & 6 (Upcoming)

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If you’re watching this video after November 2022, you might be confused to find Elizabeth Debicki so low on this list. The classically trained Australian is set to play Princess Diana for the final two seasons of Netflix’s “The Crown,” taking the baton from Emma Corrin. We can infer from her education as an actress and a dancer that she possesses the poise to fill the role of royalty. She’s also flexed her acting muscles as both friend and villainess in“The Great Gatsby” and “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.” respectively. Fans of Debicki and the show are ecstatic about the casting, and the fact that we’ve yet to see this performance is likely the only reason that it isn’t graced with a higher ranking.

You might not think that the life of Diana Spencer makes comfortable source material for Broadway….and you wouldn’t be alone. Although its Broadway run was delayed due to COVID-19, “Diana,” the musical, received a live stage recording that was released on Netflix to largely unloving reviews. Where the overall show struggles, lead actress Jeanna de Waal finds an uneasy balance between vaudevillian entertainment and the dramatic weight of Diana’s true life. She expresses charisma and triple-threat stage talent for numbers like “This Is How Your People Dance,” yet she can still absorb the spotlight for emotional moments like “If” and “Underestimated.” Bringing Princess Di to the Great White Way is a heavy burden, but de Waal’s musical virtuosity is up to the task.

English thespian Katie Brayben brings the Princess of Wales back to life in “King Charles III,” an adaptation of Mike Bartlett’s stage play. The film imagines the fictional future reign of Prince Charles, including a ghostly visit from his late first wife. Brayben’s role is brief, but she makes the most of it with her pitch-perfect tone. She speaks to both her living husband and son, seeming to tell each that he’ll be “the greatest king we’ve ever had.” Her delivery is gentle, conveying warmth, care and comfort, though she never drops her spectral demeanor. Brayben’s memorable moment works as both a Shakespearean apparition and a divisive resurgence of the deceased princess.

#7: Amy Seccombe “Diana: A Tribute to the People’s Princess” (1998)

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The loss of Princess Diana shocked the world and remains fresh in the memories of the media and the public to this day. Within only a year of the tragedy, “Diana: A Tribute to the People’s Princess” sought to gracefully tell the tale of Diana’s final years, including her romantic relationship with film producer Dodi Fayed. Amy Seccombe took on the role with a striking resemblance to the royal and a fondness for the script, saying that “there was nothing dodgy about it.” She delivered a performance heavy with realism and solemnity, managing to pay respect to Diana’s memory so delicately soon after her devastating death.

Bonnie Soper is another accredited performer who brought her experience in the theater to the big screen. She advanced through the world of New Zealand soap operas and into the Lifetime original “Harry & Meghan: A Royal Romance.” Though the movie focuses on the relationship between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, Soper appears as Lady Di in flashbacks. Soper came to her audition dressed in-character and gave an indelibly charming read as a young, newly-engaged princess wrestling with her smile. She also conveys motherly discipline in scenes with young Harry and William, while still smirking some Diana sass, as she advises her sons that “it’s okay to be naughty sometimes.”

This 2007 TV movie aimed high at representing the life of Diana with as much accuracy as possible. “Diana: Last Days of a Princess” blends real-life interview and news footage with a teleplay that, while fictionalized, is based on police reports and investigative research. Complementing the realism, Genevieve O’Reilly’s embodiment of Diana doesn’t put the princess on a pedestal. O’Reilly portrays her as warm, but also manipulative at times, with lapses of confidence and judgement beneath the pristine facade. It’s a reminder that underneath all of the glamour and photographs, Princess Diana was perhaps not so different from the rest of us.

As Harry and Meghan got a biopic, so too did William and Kate, and neither of these tales were complete without an appearance by Mother Diana. Every breath taken in the footsteps of Lady Di is crucial, and Lesley Harcourt arguably steals the show with her short-lived but momentous appearance. In the scene, Prince Harry watches an interview with his mother, where she recounts the day of her separation from Charles. She then speaks directly to William, urging his older-self to see the importance of finding love and never letting it go. Harcourt’s delivery is heart-tugging in its sincerity, as she simultaneously expresses personal vulnerability and matriarchal wisdom to the man her son has yet to become. We’re speechless too, William.

Based on the book “Diana: Her Last Love,” 2013’s “Diana” once again focuses on the final years of the princess’s life, including her activist campaigns and relationship with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan. Despite the film’s staggeringly poor reviews and Razzie nomination, Naomi Watts’s performance makes it worth watching. The Australian actress pours defiant passion, ferocity, and touching melancholy into her depiction, and she achieves more with a debatably wooden script than most other actors could. Watts has stated that she felt Diana’s spiritual presence while working on the film, and we certainly see that personal connection translated on the silver screen.

#2: Kristen Stewart “Spencer” (2021)

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If you only know Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, you might forget that she has some pretty standout characters on her resume, including rebellious rock star Joan Jett. She takes the part of Diana in “Spencer,” which centers on the idiosyncratic psychology behind the princess’s character in the days before her divorce. In the right role, Stewart can be a surgeon of subtlety, communicating endless spectrums of emotion with delicate nuances. Can’t you feel yourself squirm watching her fingers clutch the end of that pool table? Her performance has garnered critical praise and Oscar buzz, and it could possibly usher in a new era of Stewart as a leading lady. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Nicola Formby, “The Women of Windsor” (1992) The Model & Actress Turned Journalist Takes a Stab at Bringing Diana to Life Caroline Bliss, “Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story” (1982) Played the Princess Just Fourteen Months After the Royal Wedding Catherine Oxenberg, “The Royal Romance of Charles & Diana” (1982) & “Charles & Diana: Unhappily Ever After” (1992) Another Soap Star Who Played Diana Twice Serena Scott Thomas, “Diana: Her True Story” (1993) Finds a Sense of Charm in the Royal Couple’s Turbulent Story Julie Cox, “Princess in Love” (1996) A Scandalous Depiction of Diana Amidst an Affair

#1: Emma Corrin “The Crown” (2016-) Season 4

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25-year old Emma Corrin was virtually unknown before she took on the role of young Lady Diana Spencer in Season 4 of Netflix’s “The Crown.” Since then the English actress has completely disappeared into the persona of the Princess of Wales, exhibiting all angles of her endearing playfulness, irresistible likeability, and fierce maturity. She’s even received a Golden Globe Award and Emmy nomination for her talent-beyond-her-years. Much like Princess Diana, Corrin’s public has fallen in love with her, hypnotized by her exuberant and sometimes unconventional fashion choices. We wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she secretly shared regal blood with Lady Di herself.