Kristen Stewart Admits She’s ‘Protective’ of Princess Diana Amid Upcoming Portrayal in New Biopic

Kristen Stewart recently admitted that she is very “protective” of Princess Diana, as she prepares to portray the former Royal in an upcoming new biopic. The film, titled Spencer, will focus on a very specific time in Diana’s life: when she realized that she needed to end her marriage to Prince Charles. While appearing on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week — to promote her new holiday film, Happiest Season — Stewart briefly spoke about the project.

“I didn’t grow up with her maybe in the same way, I was really young when she passed away,” Stewart explained. “I feel sort of the same way about her. It happened really quickly.” The actress was only seven years old when Diana died [in 1997], and shared that all she really remembered were flowers being laid at Buckingham Palace in honor of the fallen princess. “I was really young, [I] didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “It’s hard not to feel protective of her. She was so young.”

Stewart continued, “I mean, everyone’s perspective is different and there’s no way to get anything right because what is fact in relation to personal experience.” Going on to share details about the film, Stewart revealed, “My movie takes place over three days, and it’s this really poetic internal imagining of what that might have felt like rather than giving new information. We kind of don’t have a mark to hit, we just also love her.”

In a previous interview with InStyle, Stewart shared a little bit more about the project, and revealed that trying to nail down Diana’s accent was a bit daunting. “We don’t start shooting until mid-January. The accent is intimidating as all hell because people know that voice, and it’s so, so distinct and particular,” she said. “I’m working on it now and already have my dialect coach.”

Stewart went on to share that she had also been preparing for the film by reading many books about Diana’s life. “In terms of research, I’ve gotten through two and a half biographies, and I’m finishing all the material before I actually go make the movie,” Stewart said. “It’s one of the saddest stories to exist ever, and I don’t want to just play Diana — I want to know her implicitly.” She then added, “I haven’t been this excited about playing a part, by the way, in so long.”