Pablo Larraín's Spencer, starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana [1], may be rooted in fact, but the film takes plenty of creative liberties for the sake of good entertainment. The film takes place over the course of the Christmas break in 1991 [2] as Princess Diana and Prince Charles's turbulent marriage and resulting drama come to a head. And though much of this happened (the royal family do celebrate Christmas at Sandringham in Norfolk, England, and Diana and Charles did separate around this time), some of the movie is fictionalised. There are even more tidbits in the movie that happened, just not necessarily during this time period. However, for the sake of the story, many of the dark parts of Diana's life are condensed into this particular time period. Ahead, find eight times the movie deviates from real life — whether it's a total fabrication or just bending the truth.
Are Maggie and Major Alistar Gregory From Spencer Real?
The stern Major Alistar Gregory, played by Timothy Spall in Spencer, didn't exist in real life. Another fabricated character was Princess Diana's friend and dresser Maggie, played by Sally Hawkins.
What Was Princess Diana's Favourite Dessert?
In Spencer, Diana and the chef claim her favourite dessert is soufflé, but that wasn't the case in real life. Princess Diana and royal chef Darren McGrady were close, and he shared with HuffPost that her favourite dessert was bread and butter pudding [4].
Was Princess Diana's Childhood Home Actually Abandoned?
In Spencer, Princess Diana escapes Sandringham to revisit her childhood home, which is just nearby. The house is run-down and abandoned, but there's no evidence that that was the case in real life. In fact, The Independent reported her home was actually turned into a hospital [5] after Diana's family moved out.
Did Diana Really Escape to the Beach?
After a particularly stressful time over the Christmas holidays, Princess Diana escapes to a nearby beach with her dresser in Spencer. It's unclear if this actually happened, but according to The Daily Mirror (via Vogue), Diana did escape to a beach over New Year's [6] in 1990 when her marriage to Prince Charles hit a particularly ugly patch.
Did Princess Diana Really Take William and Harry For KFC?
Though Princess Diana was a fan of grabbing fast food with her sons, Chef McGrady told Marie Claire she favoured McDonald's [7]. However, there's no evidence Diana took William and Harry for fast food after the Christmas bank holiday at Sandringham (though it's not out of the realm of possibility).
Did Princess Diana Really Interrupt the Boxing Day Hunt?
It's true that Princess Diana didn't like hunting [8] (and especially didn't like her sons taking part). However, there's no evidence that she ever walked out into the middle of the men hunting on Boxing Day and demanded her sons come with her like she does in Spencer.
Did Prince Charles Really Give Princess Diana and Camilla Parker-Bowles the Same Pearls?
In Spencer, Diana is horrified (though seemingly unsurprised) to discover her husband gave her the same pearl necklace he gave to his then-mistress, Camilla Parker-Bowles. There's no evidence to suggest this gift-giving snafu ever happened [9] (or that she ate them at the dinner table). What is true to life, however, is that Prince Charles's affair with Parker-Bowles was, indeed, a primary source of contention within their marriage.
Was Princess Diana Really Obsessed With Anne Boleyn?
Spencer's Princess Diana is hung up on Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII's second wife, who was famously beheaded over the king's claims of adultery and incest — claims historians believe were all false and a ploy to remove Boleyn as his wife so he could marry his third wife, Jane Seymour. There are obvious parallels between Diana and Anne Boleyn's lives (like marrying into the royal family only to be betrayed). However, there's no evidence to support the idea that Diana obsessed over the former queen of England. Instead, this connection seems to be born from the imagination of the film's writer Steven Knight.