Category Archives: Diana, Princess of Wales

New Reader’s Digest Article: 10 Portrayals of Princess Diana in Pop Culture—Ranked

by CarolynHarris | Leave a comment

The new film Spencer isn’t the first attempt to bring the story of Diana, Princess of Wales to the big screen. In my recent article for Reader’s Digest, I discuss how 10 other films, TV series, novels and plays portrayed “the People’s Princess”—with varying degrees of success. Traditional biopics are rare. Instead, writers often choose a particular theme or moment from Diana’s life or legacy – or create an alternate history imagining what might have happened to Diana if she had experienced different circumstances.

Click here to read my article, 10 Portrayals of Princess Diana in Pop Culture—Ranked in Reader’s Digest Canada

NBC News Interview: From ‘Spencer’ to ‘The Crown’: Why do we remain captivated by Princess Diana?

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I discussed Diana’s legacy in popular culture with Daniel Arkin in NBC News including key themes from films and TV series about Diana and why her life and death has such resonance for screenwriters and audiences alike.

Click here to read From ‘Spencer’ to ‘The Crown’: Why do we remain captivated by Princess Diana? at NBC News

New Reader’s Digest Article: 40 Things You Didn’t Know About the Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer

by CarolynHarris | Leave a comment

My latest article in Reader’s Digest Canada discusses little known facts about the royal wedding of 1981 including the backup wedding dress for Lady Diana Spencer, the special chair commissioned for one of the wedding guests, and the concerns that both Prince Charles and Lady Diana expressed before the ceremony.

Click here to read “40 Things You Didn’t Know About the Wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer” in Reader’s Digest Canada

New Interviews about Season 4 of The Crown on Netflix for NBC and Le Figaro

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I discussed Season 4 of The Crown on Netflix with NBC News and Le Figaro including the portrayals of the Queen, Margaret Thatcher and Diana, Princess of Wales.

Click here to read ‘The Crown’ season 4: Did Queen Elizabeth II and Margaret Thatcher get along? at NBC News

Click here to read The Crown s’impose en majesté in Le Figaro

History Interview: How Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s Wedding Became a Global Phenomenon

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I discussed the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer in 1981 with Jessica Pearce Rotondi at History.com, including the menu, guest list and media coverage at the time.

Click here to read “How Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s Wedding Became a Global Phenomenon” at History.com

CBC News Interview: Becoming Diana: Emma Corrin on playing the Princess of Wales in Season 4 of The Crown

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In an interview with Janet Davison at CBC News, I discussed screen portrayals of Diana, Princess of Wales and the challenges that arise in fictional depictions of Diana’s life for TV and film.

Click here to read “Becoming Diana: Emma Corrin on playing the Princess of Wales in Season 4 of The Crown” at CBC News

New Canadian Encyclopedia Article: Lady Lansdowne

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My latest article in the Canadian Encyclopedia is about Lady Lansdowne,
viceregal consort of Canada from 1883 to 1888 and Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Alexandra. Lady Lansdowne was an active and popular viceregal consort who became an accomplished figure skater during her time in Canada. Her eldest brother was an ancestor of Diana, Princess of Wales and Lady Lansdowne was therefore a great-great-great-great grand-aunt of Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor, the newborn son of Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.

Click here to read my article about Lady Lansdowne in the Canadian Encyclopedia

Today Interview: Royal parenting over the years: From distant and lonely to loving and hands-on

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I discussed royal parenting over the past century with Laura T. Coffey from Today. One hundred years ago, King George V’s and Queen Mary’s youngest son Prince John died following an epileptic seizure. While his parents grieved his loss, his daily care had been entrusted almost entirely to his governess Charlotte Bill, and he resided in his own residence, the Wood Farm cottage on the Sandringham Estate. Royal parents are far more involved in the daily care of their children today, a trend that will continue with the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s baby.

Click here to read Royal parenting over the years: From distant and lonely to loving and hands-on

New York Magazine Interview: Inside the Royal Gossip Machine

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Diana, Princess of Wales at the Cannes Film Festival in 1987

My recent interview with Lisa Ryan for The Cut, New York Magazine, examines the history of royal reporting including how the royal family has shaped its own image over the centuries from the reign of King George III to the present day.

Here an excerpt from the interview:

“This isn’t a new game; reporting on royal gossip has been happening for a while, though it’s certainly evolved under different monarchs’ reigns. “It’s varied over time, as there’s a balance between maintaining the mystique of the monarchy and ensuring members of the royal family have a private life to some degree, but also responding to a very strong public interest in royalty and life behind palace doors that has existed for centuries,” royal historian Carolyn Harris, the author of Raising Royalty: 1,000 Years of Royal Parenting, told the Cut.”

Click here to read “Inside the Royal Gossip Machine” in New York Magazine

 

My BBC History Magazine article: The 8 most famous royal weddings in British history

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Charles and Diana, Prince and Princess of Wales on their wedding day in 1981

In honour of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle this weekend, my feature article in the BBC History Magazine is about the 8 most famous royal weddings in British history. I discuss what each bride wore on her wedding day, guest list complications, wedding cakes and the variety of popular responses to royal weddings over the centuries from Tudor times to today.

Click here to read The 8 Most Famous Royal Weddings in British History