Diana

I went to see 'Diana' with some trepidation half expecting something tremendously tacky. The film focuses on the supposed relationship Diana, Princess of Wales had with a Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan.

I don't recall hearing/reading anything about this surgeon and a relationship with the iconic Royal but if the gossip was common knowledge at the time then I concede failure on my part as a gay man with a penchant for celebrity watching to have remained so ignorant.

Naomi Watts, who I have long admired as an actress, makes a fair fist of Diana. She has the voice and the demeanour well covered. Although watched, guarded, monitored and followed continually the film establishes Diana's loneliness and the background images of a luxury lifestyle are a minor thrill for lovers of celebrity gossip.

On the plus side it is interesting to see how Diana schemed and manipulated the media, mostly with disastrous results. On the negative side the affair with the surgeon, which is the major focus of the film, is at times the tacky portrayal I feared.

My guess is that this could have been quite an interesting companion piece for the film, 'The Queen' had it focused on Diana's strategic response to the destruction of her marriage and distancing from her sons rather than the romantic pot boiler it tends to be.

A couple of interesting tangents.  Australia's beloved heart surgeon the late Victor Chang gets considerable mention in the film which is a matter for parochial pride. During the film Naomi Watts dons a dark wig to portray Diana in disguise and I was struck by how closely she resembles her Aussie pal Nicole Kidman in that colouring.

I don't know why anyone would take on the role of such a distinctively remembered personage still so alive within our memories. It's a brave, probably foolhardy, act by Ms Watts. I suspect a better focussed film than this will be made of the same events at a later date by when they will be more of an historical rather than romantic curiosity.
★★