Kristen Stewart's film Spencer tells the tale of Princess Diana's visit to Sandringham castle in December 1991.
Thus far, no members of the royal family have publicly commented on the veracity of the movie, but Princess Diana's bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, spoke to People about what it was really like to spend the holidays with the Windsors, revealing, "It was purgatory for [Diana]."
According to Wharfe, who served as Diana's bodyguard from 1988 to 1993, the late royal preferred to spend time with the household staff rather than the family. He shared that she "confined herself to spending time in the kitchen with the chef or with people like me, in the hope that time would while away, and she could get back to London."
Spencer depicts how Diana spent one of her last Christmases with the royal family before ultimately choosing to divorce Prince Charles. In the film, she discusses this difficult decision with her dresser, Maggie (Sally Hawkins).
It's believed that Maggie is based on the real-life stylist Anna Harvey, though Wharfe said, "From my experience, Diana never once confided in her dressers."
As a whole, Wharfe seems impressed by Stewart's impersonation of Diana, even if the movie isn't an accurate depiction of that weekend in 1991.
"Out of all the people who have played Diana over the past 10 years, she's the closest to her," he said. "She managed to perfect her mannerisms."
Prior to Stewart, Diana has been portrayed by Naomi Watts, Emma Corrin and a handful of other actresses. Elizabeth Debicki will join that growing list of stars when season five of The Crown premieres on Netflix in 2022.
Fans have had a few glimpses of the Australian actress filming the show alongside Dominic West, who is playing Prince Charles. And though they're merely photos, royal watchers are impressed by Debicki's appearance, especially in the so-called "revenge dress" that Diana wore to a Vanity Fair fundraiser for the Serpentine Gallery in Kensington Gardens in 1994.
That being said, those who knew Princess Diana aren't as happy with the depiction of her final years. The late royal's close friend Jemima Khan recently told The Times that she's no longer working on The Crown as she feels the writers are not handling the Paris car crash "as respectfully or compassionately as I had hoped."