Kristen Stewart Stars as Princess Diana in Spencer

Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana, has begun principal photography and released its first image of Stewart as the tragic royal. The film comes from director Pablo Larraín, who previously introduced audiences to Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in Jackie.

Spencer focuses on a few days in December 1991, as Princess Diana spends the Christmas holiday with the royal family at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, and decides to end her marriage with Prince Charles. The film is to be released this fall, ahead of the 25th anniversary of Diana’s 1997 death in Paris.

“Though rumours of affairs and a divorce abound, peace is ordained for the Christmas festivities at Sandringham Estate. There’s eating and drinking, shooting and hunting. Diana knows the game. This year, things will be a whole lot different,” says a press release for Spencer.

Adds Kristen Stewart: “Spencer is a dive inside an emotional imagining of who Diana was at a pivotal turning point in her life. It is a physical assertion of the sum of her parts, which starts with her given name; Spencer. It is a harrowing effort for her to return to herself, as Diana strives to hold onto what the name Spencer means to her.”

Cast members also include BAFTA Award nominee Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner, The Party), Academy Award nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, Paddington) and Sean Harris (Mission: Impossible – Fallout, Prometheus).

Spencer is written by Steven Knight (Locke, Peaky Blinders, Dirty Pretty Things) and produced by Juan de Dios Larraín (Jackie, A Fantastic Woman, Gloria) for Fabula Films, Jonas Dornbach and Janine Jackowski (Toni Erdmann, A Fantastic Woman) for Komplizen Film and BAFTA award winner and Academy award nominee Paul Webster (Anna Karenina, Atonement) for Shoebox Films.

“We are extremely grateful for the support of our distributors worldwide, our partners and funders who have shown tremendous commitment to us in these extraordinary times.  With Kristen Stewart, Steven Knight and the rest of our fantastic team both in front and behind the camera we are bringing SPENCER to the world. It is an independently produced film made for the big screen about an iconic woman’s own declaration of independence. We couldn’t be more excited!” the producers said in a sttatement.

Larraín’s creative team includes Director of Photography Claire Mathon (Portrait of a Lady on Fire), Costume Designer Jacqueline Durran (an Academy award-winner for Little Women and Anna Karenina), Make Up and Hair Designer Wakana Yoshihara (Murder On The Orient Express, High Rise). Guy Hendrix Dyas (an Academy Award nominee for Passengers and Inception) is the Production Designer. Composing the original score is Academy Award, BAFTA and Grammy Award nominee, Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood (You Were Never Really Here, Phantom Thread).

The executive producers are Tom Quinn, Jeff Deutchman and Christina Zisa for NEON and Michael Bloom, Maria Zuckerman and Ryan Heller for Topic Studios.

Main image, above: Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in Spencer.