The Queen (2006)
Directed by Stephen Frears

Film Synopsis

The death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31st August 1997 was an event that stunned the world.  It seemed inconceivable that the life of this sparkling 36-year-old could be snuffed out so suddenly, so dramatically, in something as banal as a car accident.  In the days that followed, there came a national outpouring of grief, the like of which Great Britain had scarcely known before.  Tony Blair, the Labour Prime Minister who won a landslide victory in the previous general election, caught the mood of the nation when he dubbed Diana the 'People's Princess'.   Amidst all these public protestations of grief, the British royal family remain conspicuous by their absence.  For the Queen and her son Prince Charles, the heir to the throne, Diana was an embarrassment, a loose cannon that threatened the continuation of the monarchy.

A stickler for etiquette and decorum, the Queen cannot bring herself to give in to the wave hysteria that is sweeping the country, so she keeps her silence.  In doing so, she risks alienating herself and her family further from her subjects, many of whom come to regard her reticence as outright contempt.  Fearing for the future of the monarchy, Blair and his aides enter into a private dialogue with the royal family in which advice is given for the Queen to make a public acknowledgment of Diana's death.  The Queen takes heed of the Prime Minister's advice by offering a special tribute to the princess in a live television broadcast.  When they subsequently meet, it is Blair who receives some words of warning from his sovereign.  The Prime Minister is riding high in the opinion polls now, but he should be prepared for the day when his popularity goes into freefall.  The Queen's advice falls on deaf ears...