The Princess

Ed Perkins's 2022 documentary tells the story of Princess Diana using only archive footage from the time; there is no narrator, no new interview, no retrospective commentary. The material consists entirely of news footage, television broadcasts and amateur recordings shot in those years. The method places the viewer in the position of the people who watched the events as they happened. The real subject is not Diana but the crowd looking at her: the cameras, the reporters, the people waiting in the street. Perkins never constructs a separate sentence of criticism about the behaviour of the press, he simply lets the footage run, and the discomfort arises on its own. The limit of the method is a lack of context: for viewers who do not know the events, some transitions stay opaque. Who it's for: viewers interested in archive documentary, the argument over the British monarchy, and media criticism. Who it's not for: anyone wanting narration and explanation, or unprepared for the weight of the crash footage and the scenes of mass mourning.