Spencer review, Culture Whisper
‘THEY CAN HEAR YOU’, shouts a poster in the Sandringham kitchen, seen in the background of Pablo Larraín's new Princess Diana film Spencer. Everyone hears everything in this royal household. Nothing is secret, so it’s best just to follow the rules. A cold palace results, one that bitterly sticks an Orwellian regime into a building full of ghosts.
It’s Christmas 1991, the year before the Prince and Princess of Wales formally separated. For the 30-year-old Diana (Kristen Stewart), staying at Sandringham is a nightmarish scenario. She would rather drive aimlessly through the Norfolk countryside or chat with the chefs and maids. Spending dinner with her Royal family is a nauseating prospect and, for the most part, it's not meant to be optional.
The subtly dictatorial royal officer Major Gregory (Timothy Spall) hovers about the princess, making sure she conforms. He quietly enters, appearing behind Diana like an orderly spectre with a hint of Rebecca’s Mrs Danvers. ‘No one is above tradition,’ he pompously proclaims, mistaking her obstinacy for being spoiled. Her damp yet dominant husband Charles (a wavy-haired Jack Farthing) is of a similar mind. In reality, Diana’s a strangled wife with many impossible expectations to fulfil.
