Spencer
Dir: Pablo Larrain
Cast: Kristen Stewart, Timothy Spall, Sean Harris, and Sally Hawkins
Rating: 3.5/5

Director Pablo Larrain attempts to piece together the fraying embers of a once fairy tale marriage between Prince Charles, heir to the throne of England and his wife Diana, who lived an altogether different and rather ordinary life in comparison, before she entered the private, regimented, gilded personal Kingdom of the Queen. The entire narrative is constructed around the Christmas holidays in the Royal Household at Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England and is brought to us from the perceived idea of an anguished, traumatised Princess Diana who apparently, as per popular lore, made her decision to end her marriage during that time.

Larrain and scriptwriter Steven Knight makes it clear right from the outset that this is a ‘Fable based on a true tragedy’ so even if offended, the Royal Family would have to grin and bear with it. As an audience we become voyeurs to the dismantling of the ‘perfect’ Princess as she struggles with the knowledge that her fairy tale romance was a sham after learning about her Prince Charming’s infidelity – a liaison that predates her marriage.