The 2022 Home Box Office (HBO Max) documentary film, “The Princess”, takes an immersive look at the life of Princess Diana and her relationship with Charles, the prince of Wales. The film starts off with footage of Princess Diana’s early years and her wedding to Prince Charles. It grasps the thrill and exhilaration people received from Princess Diana’s life. The documentary gives a realistic glimpse of the way Princess Diana isolated herself from her unfaithful husband. Despite the chaos happening in her life, she still owed her loyalty to the British monarchy and did not let her marriage define her.

“The Princess” draws solely from contemporaneous archival audio and video footage to take audiences back to key events in Diana’s life as they happened; including their seemingly fairy-tale public courtship and wedding, the birth of her two sons, her bitter divorce and Diana’s tragic death August 31, 1997. The documentary presented a visceral submersion into Diana’s life and the constant intrusive glare of the media spotlight. Through archival material, the film also reflects on society at the time, revealing the public’s own preoccupations, fears, aspirations and desires. 

The late Diana married the prince at St Paul’s Cathedral in London on July 29, 1981. During her marriage, the princess undertook a wide range of royal duties like participating in over 100 charities. After her divorce from the Prince of Wales, the princess remained a member of the royal family. She continued to give back to the world and visited places like Angola to provide prosthetics for children without limbs. ​​Besides being renowned for her style, people also knew her best for her charitable work. Today, people remember her as a staple for modernizing the British monarchy by reinvigorating it.

“Princess Diana inspires me and I’m sure many people across the world. She received such criticism and backlash from the world but still made it her duty to give back. She is a great example of a women historical figure,” junior Sunna Alam said. 

The film allows viewers to experience the overwhelming adoration, but also the intense scrutiny of Diana’s every move and the constant judgment of her character. The documentary film does a great job at showing her true story while also removing major parts of her life. As much as cameras pointed in her direction, critics rarely received insight from the princess because she concealed her life. The media based the majority of her life on assumptions. For nearly two decades, the public tormented the princess because of her loveless marriage with the prince, which seemed clear from the beginning of their marriage. The harassment overwhelmed her so much that in December 1993, the princess announced she would reduce the publicity of her life to combine a meaningful public role with private life. The movie made it their mission to show the princess’s impact on England with her great hope and courageousness. 

“There are very few moments like those in history. I remember where I was in every tiny detail when I heard about Diana. Even 25 years later, Princess Diana’s legacy continues to impact those whose lives were intertwined with hers,” royal biographer Ingrid Seward said.