Divisive Princess Diana Movie Now Streaming on Free Service

Those looking to see Princess Diana’s life on-screen can stream the film Spencer, which is available on the service Kanopy. The psychological thriller stars Kristen Stewart in the role of the former Princess of Wales.

The film received mixed feedback from fans and critics for its dark undertones. It chronicles Princess Diana’s widely reported crisis during the Christmas of 1991, as she considers divorcing Prince Charles and leaving the British royal family. 

Princess Diana was open about the struggles of her marriage and the metaphoric chains she felt she was linked to as the pressures of being a royal mounted. She eventually filed for divorce after separating in 1992. Their divorce would be finalized in August 1996, ending a tumultuous 15-year marriage. She tragically died in a car crash the following year.

Princess Diana spoke at length to the public about Prince Charles’ ongoing affair with his now-wife and Queen of the United Kingdom, Camilla. Their affair continued throughout his courtship and marriage to Princess Diana. Prince, now King Charles, and Camilla wed in 2005, 35 years after they first met.

Critics praised Stewart’s performance as Princess Diana. A Variety review notes of Stewart: “Right off, we feel as if we’re seeing…Diana. The real thing. Kristen Stewart doesn’t just do an impersonation (though on the level of impersonation she’s superb). She transforms; she changes her aspect, her rhythm, her karma. Watching her play Diana, we see an echo, perhaps, of Stewart’s own ambivalent relationship to stardom — the way that she’ll stand on an awards podium, chewing her lip, reveling in the attention even as she’s slightly uncomfortable with it (and even as she makes that distrust of the limelight a key element of her stardom).”

But fans had differing opinions. Many critics believed Stewart would get an Oscar for the role. “I just watched the first 50 minutes of Spencer. It is awful. It’s uncomfortable, cringey, uninteresting, depressing, etc. I can’t watch any more of it. Has anyone else seen it? The Crown is a million times better!” one Reddit user wrote. The film has an overall rating of three out of five stars.