Princess Diana is still a star: The late royal remains a pop culture sensation

All of this follows the global success of the Netflix series “The Crown” about the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, the final season paying close attention to Diana’s story. And there continues to be a steady stream of books about Diana, and more to come. Due in 2022: “The Lady Di Look Book: What Diana Was Trying To Tell Us Through Her Clothes” (St. Martin’s Griffin), written by Eloise Moran, creator of Instagram @ladydirevengelooks
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So what has fueled this continued fascination – and the many portraits of Diana in popular culture?

In the end, hers is just a great story. Or actress Jeanna de Waal, who plays Diana in the new Broadway musical, says so.

“There were a lot of ups and downs and a lot of ups and downs” in the princess’ story, de Waal said. And let’s not forget the tabloid element, with which musicals often play out very aggressively: “There are elements in the story that are amazingly compelling and there’s a lot of room for drama to be written,” de Waal added.

Others come into play, others suggest. Perhaps most notable is the fact that the main characters in Diana’s story – namely Charles and his second wife turned longtime love, Camilla Parker Bowles, along with Diana’s two children , Prince William and Prince Harry – are still very much with us. According to Stephen Bates, a British writer who has worked for the royal family for a long time and is the author of the book, “Royal Inc.”. (Aurum Press).

Indeed, many have seen similarities between Diana and Harry’s wife, Meghan, Duchess of Susses, a former actress, particularly in terms of their struggles as royalty and how they both are open to those troubles.

And as Bates reminds us, Diana’s ex-husband “will still be king one day”. (Not to mention her son, William, second in line to the throne.)

Robert Thompson, a popular culture expert and director of Syracuse University’s Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture, says the current boom in everything Diana says is much more of a fact that humans are mostly human. Like don’t like fairy tales. And Diana’s story is the closest we have to a modern-day fairy tale.

“It’s this wonderful backwardness,” he said, noting that Diana’s royal wedding to Charles was like “a big national cosplay.”

Thompson also says that Diana has ushered in the modern era of celebrity a lot – and when chased by the paparazzi on the ill-fated Paris bus ride, she “met her death on the altar of the celebrant.” famous,” he said. But the real point, he says, is that in a culture so fragmented, our fascination with celebrities becomes the one thing that often unites us.

Almost needless to say, given our seemingly insatiable interest in celebrities in general and Diana in particular, there’s money to be made to tell her story. It’s basically an extension of what happened when Diana was alive, Thompson said.

That’s not to say that every “Diana” project will resonate. The Broadway musical received particularly bad reviews, and the movie “Spencer” had a relatively bland showing at the box office, with a weekend opening of $2.149 million, over the term.

However, de Waal, Diana Broadway, remains hopeful, noting that many Diana fans are coming to theaters to relive her story in all its triumphant and tragic details. “Everybody is having a great time at our show,” she said.