Kristen Stewart is gearing up to make her debut as late Princess Diana in director Pablo Larraín’s upcoming Spencer biopic — but the A-list actress shouldn’t expect to receive praise from the British royal family.
“They won’t like it, but they would have expected it. It is the truth,” journalist Robert Jobson told Us Weekly exclusively on Tuesday, February 2, while promoting his upcoming book, Prince Philip’s Century: The Extraordinary Life of the Duke of Edinburgh.
Throughout his many years of extensively covering the royal family, Jobson got well acquainted with Diana before her untimely death in 1997 at age 36. “It’s going to be 25 years in 2022, since she died. … I’m 56 now. I was kinda a young man covering the story at the time, but [I] knew her as a person,” he explained, adding that he does believes “it’s inevitable” that “the royals won’t like [the biopic] at all.”
In June 2020, Stewart, 30, was cast to play Lady Di in a film centered on coming to terms with her deteriorating marriage to Prince Charles and where her life was heading while spending Christmas at Sandringham Estate in 1991. The first official photo of the Twilight actress on set was released on January 27 to praise for her close resemblance to the late royal.
Jobson noted to Us that there’s “a lot of pressure” attached to taking on such a part because Diana is a historic figure. That being said, he believes the way Stewart ultimately portrays the people’s princess is of great importance.
“I think the most important thing is how well the actress can interpret the role. We’ll have to wait and see on that,” he explained. “As for the photographs of her, I thought she looked remarkably like the photograph of [Diana]. Having been someone who has met Diana and knew her fairly well, I thought it was uncanny, really. But we’ll just have to see. I think what’s more important is the authenticity of the portrayal, and we’ll have to see how that develops because my understanding is it’s going to be a good script and it’s going to be a good premise, but it might not necessarily have actually happened in the way they’re saying.”
The Charlie’s Angels star recently revealed that she is not taking the job of portraying Diana lightly. Though Stewart “was really young when [Diana] passed away,” she still holds a deep connection to the part.
“It’s hard not to feel protective over her,” she explained on Jimmy Kimmel Live! in November 2020. “She was so young [when she died]. … Everyone’s perspective is different, and there’s no way to get everything right … what is fact in relation to personal experience.”
In addition to Jobson’s vast knowledge of Diana, the author is set to showcase his expertise on another royal with the upcoming release of his book on Prince Philip’s life.
“I’ve always been fascinated by the Duke of Edinburgh and when the lockdown came, I thought [about how] I’ve written books about other people. I just thought I’m going to start researching into him because his life has been extraordinary,” he told Us. “I think I did call it Prince Phillip Century because this year, remarkably, is the hundredth anniversary of his birth.”
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
