Elizabeth Debicki to play Princess Diana in The Crown, and we rate the others who’ve tried the royal role
THOSE who knew Princess Diana reckon not one of the many actresses to have played the late royal has truly recreated her magic.
So Elizabeth Debicki will have her work cut out as she becomes the latest to try.
The Aussie star of 2016’s steamy BBC drama The Night Manager is to star in the final two runs of Netflix drama The Crown, from next year. She will take over from Emma Corrin, who will play the younger Di in the fourth series when it airs this autumn.
But how will she compare in the tiara to those who have gone before her? Elizabeth, 29, will play the People’s Princess from 1990, when her marriage to Prince Charles was on the rocks, until her death seven years later in a Paris car crash.
A show insider said: “Seasons five and six will see Diana emerging as an effortless icon but yet still retaining that fragility. The role requires a fearless actor to bring truth to this beloved yet complex icon. Elizabeth had that perfect combination of megawatt star quality and vulnerability.”
But Colin Tebbutt, who worked as Diana’s driver, says: “She was unique. No one on TV or film has been able to capture her amazing personality.”
Ingrid Seward, Editor-in-Chief of Majesty magazine, adds: “The reason she is still so iconic nearly a quarter of a century after her death is because no one has been able to recreate Diana.
“With good hair and make-up, an actress can look like her. But the princess was such a tragic figure and no one has come close to capturing that mix of dazzling confidence and vulnerability on screen.”
Here, Ingrid gives her verdict on those who have played Di and rates each out of ten.
Caroline Bliss
CAROLINE, who was Miss Moneypenny in 007 films with Timothy Dalton, played the young Diana in TV film Charles and Diana, A Royal Love Story, in 1982.
This was just a year after Diana’s wedding to Prince Charles. This bland fairytale drama failed to leave viewers stirred, let along shaken.
But then again, in 1982 no one realised Diana would become such a star all over the world.
Rating: 2/10
Serena Scott Thomas
SERENA doesn’t look too bad as the princess in Diana: Her True Story and David Threlfall was good as Charles because he mastered the prince’s mannerisms.
This 1993 TV movie was adapted from Andrew Morton’s book about Diana when he revealed just how complicated she was.
Because Serena is such a very good-looking woman she just about got away with being Diana.
Rating: 7/10
Julie Cox
THE 1996 film Princess In Love, about Diana’s romance with cavalry officer James Hewitt, did not work because Julie looks nothing like Diana. It’s more like Spitting Image.
Anyone who does not look like Diana, you immediately damn their performance. But you can do amazing things with make-up.
Why didn’t they recreate Diana’s distinctive nose? At least Julie might have been a bit more convincing.
Rating: 3/10
Amy Seccombe
AMY does look like Diana in 1998 TV film Diana: A Tribute To The People’s Princess, which was on TV in the UK just a year after her death.
The actress was tasked with recreating on screen some of the classic scenes of Diana’s final year – and her affair with Harrods heir Dodi Fayed.
But what Amy could not portray was Diana’s insecurity, which plunged her into the romance that would lead to her death.
Rating: 4/10
Elizabeth Debicki
AT 29, Elizabeth is the same age as Diana was in 1990 – the year series five of The Crown will begin.
She will portray Diana in The Crown over the period when she was at her most glamorous and most troubled. The Crown’s series five and six cover the time when Diana’s marriage to Charles fell apart, to her death in Paris in 1997 at the age of just 36.
From watching Elizabeth on TV in The Night Manager, I think she will be able to capture the essence of Diana.
At 6ft 1in, she’s taller than Diana, who was 5ft 10in, but like the princess she has an athletic figure.
In the Night Manager, Elizabeth played a very troubled woman. I have high hopes she WILL be the person who captures Diana’s complex personality.
Rating: TBC
Naomi Watts
MOVIE: Diana, 2013: Naomi was one of the best I have seen playing Diana, in a film which focused on her relationships with heart surgeon Hasnat Khan and Harrods heir Dodi Fayed.
Naomi originally turned down the film because she realised it is difficult to play an icon, but in the end was intrigued.
Like most who have played Diana, Naomi was picked because she slightly resembles her physically.
But many top actresses think playing Diana will harm their career. That is what happened to Naomi. I liked her performance but the critics didn’t and it didn’t help her career.
Rating: 8/10
Genevieve O'Reilly
I VIVIDLY remember watching Genevieve as Diana – but for the wrong reasons.
Diana: Last Days Of A Princess was a US telly film in 2007, billed as a documentary with “artistic licence”.
Real footage was mixed in with “dramatic scenes” between very wooden versions of Diana and Dodi Fayed.
It came out while Diana’s inquest was held and the only lasting impression was how dreadful it was.
Rating: 2/10
Lesley Harcourt
SCOTTISH actress Lesley Harcourt made a brief appearance as Diana in William & Catherine: A Royal Romance, which aired in August 2011 – the same year that Wills and Kate got married.
Lesley definitely has a similar look to Diana and she had the same sparkle in the eyes that I always saw in the Princess of Wales.
It was a fairly brief appearance but I thought Lesley was very convincing.
Rating: 6/10
Jeanna de Waal
JEANNA is the star of Broadway musical Diana, which is to premiere on Netflix early next year after its stage debut was postponed until later in 2021 owing to Covid.
Diana biographer Andrew Morton saw a stage preview, one of the few to have done so, and says it is very good.
Bavarian-born Jeanna is six inches shorter than Diana was and looks nothing like her but gets away with it due to her stage presence.
Rating: 7/10
Emma Corrin
EMMA will play a young Diana in The Crown this autumn but is totally wrong – nothing like the royal.
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She looks like a schoolgirl and they have the hair all wrong. When Diana began dating Charles, she was a chubby-faced girl but didn’t have an old lady hairdo.
Hopefully Emma will get the mannerisms right.
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But we will see the wedding and viewing figures will be huge.
Rating: TBC
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