But there are <\/em>reasons why a distressed Di really might have imagined she was talking with the ghost of Anne \u2013 and the movie chooses to depict that someone has left an old biography, Anne Boleyn: Life and Death of a Martyr<\/em>\u00a0as a warning beside her bed.<\/p>\n Never mind that the two are both iconic women, who married into the royal family and \u2013 as the film would have us believe \u2013 lived to regret it, or that they can both boast a legend to live on through the centuries. There are some other striking similarities \u2013 and some important differences, too.<\/p>\n \u00a0 As biographer Tina Brown recounts, a friend remembered the young Diana Spencer getting him to drive her round and round Buckingham Palace. It would be rather fun to marry Prince Charles, she said, \u201clike Anne Boleyn or Guinevere\u201d. (You do wonder whether she knew how those two ended up?) But there is, after all, also a blood relationship \u2013 one of the Spencer ancestors was descended from Anne\u2019s sister, Mary Boleyn.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Diana\u2019s sister Lady Sarah Spencer famously turned down Prince Charles. Mary Boleyn<\/a>, older sister to Anne, probably didn\u2019t have that choice when King Henry decided to make her his mistress. But it may have been Mary\u2019s fate \u2013 used for a few years, then cast aside with a damaged reputation \u2013 that made Anne so determined to hold out for a higher prize.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Anne Boleyn and Diana Spencer came from families with a tradition of service to the Crown, and both were from the aristocracy \u2013 Diana was an earl\u2019s daughter, Anne was the Duke of Norfolk\u2019s niece. But in the 1520s, the king was expected to marry a foreign princess for political advantage \u2013 and even in the 1970s, Prince Charles expected to marry a suitable girl such as Diana, rather than one he was in love with \u2013 as he famously stated, \u201cwhatever in love means<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Both Anne and Diana were known as style setters and fashion icons \u2013 but both had a far more serious side. Diana famously spoke for Aids sufferers and campaigned against landmines. Anne\u2019s powerful commitment to religious reform led directly to Henry VIII breaking away from Rome and forming the Church of England.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Diana famously blamed the \u2018men in grey suits\u2019 for her estrangement from the royal family; in the film, they\u2019re epitomised by Timothy Spall\u2019s Major Gregory. Anne Boleyn came up against the court faction \u2013 and up against Thomas Cromwell<\/a>, who was no friend to the Boleyns<\/a>, and with whom she clashed over approaches to the Dissolution of the Monasteries<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0 In her distressed later years, Diana made wild suggestions of an assassination plot. (\u201cWill they kill me, do you think?\u201d, Kristen Stewart asks in the role. Though on the surface, it could be simply a jokey \u201cwill they kill me for being late for tea?\u201d, many will surely regard it more sombrely). \u201cGo! Run!\u201d, the ghost of Anne tells Diana in the movie.<\/p>\n The real Anne \u2013 sent to the Tower of London<\/a>, accused of treason and adultery \u2013 recalled predictions a queen of England would be burnt; though she also, pathetically, hoped she might be allowed to retire quietly to a nunnery.<\/p>\n \u00a0 Both refused, you might say, to lay down and die. \u201cShe won\u2019t go quietly,\u201d Diana said of herself in the famous 1995 Panorama<\/em> interview, and public reaction to her death<\/a> seemed even to threaten the monarchy. Likewise, Anne remains one of the most fascinating figures in history and Protestant England is partly her legacy.<\/p>\n <\/p><\/div> \u00a0 Anne\u2019s daughter Elizabeth I<\/a> dared to govern England alone, and in many ways she was as much of a rule-breaker (and as cultivated a woman) as her mother had been. In turn, Diana\u2019s sons brought her warmth and relatability into the royal family \u2013 and perhaps, thinking of Prince Harry\u2019s decision to step away from his official role in the royal family<\/a>, her explosive impact on the modern monarchy, too.<\/p>\n Spencer<\/em> is directed by Pablo Larra\u00edn and stars Kristen Stewart as Diana, Princess of Wales, and is out in cinemas in the UK from 5 November 2021<\/strong><\/p><\/body><\/html>\n By Sarah Gristwood Published: Friday, 05 November 2021 at 12:00 am A wide-eyed, wary Princess Diana (played by Kristen Stewart in the new film Spencer) \u2013 tick. A repressed and disapproving Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) \u2013 tick. Another tick for the ultimate scheming courtier played by Timothy Spall, but Amy Manson as\u2026 Anne Boleyn? Yes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":6560,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"5"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/11\/8-historical-reasons-behind-anne-boleyns-appearance-in-princess-diana-film-spencer.jpg",620,413,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/11\/8-historical-reasons-behind-anne-boleyns-appearance-in-princess-diana-film-spencer-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/11\/8-historical-reasons-behind-anne-boleyns-appearance-in-princess-diana-film-spencer-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/11\/8-historical-reasons-behind-anne-boleyns-appearance-in-princess-diana-film-spencer.jpg",620,413,false],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/11\/8-historical-reasons-behind-anne-boleyns-appearance-in-princess-diana-film-spencer.jpg",620,413,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/11\/8-historical-reasons-behind-anne-boleyns-appearance-in-princess-diana-film-spencer.jpg",620,413,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/46\/2021\/11\/8-historical-reasons-behind-anne-boleyns-appearance-in-princess-diana-film-spencer.jpg",620,413,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Sarah Gristwood Published: Friday, 05 November 2021 at 12:00 am A wide-eyed, wary Princess Diana (played by Kristen Stewart in the new film Spencer) \u2013 tick. A repressed and disapproving Prince Charles (Jack Farthing) \u2013 tick. Another tick for the ultimate scheming courtier played by Timothy Spall, but Amy Manson as\u2026 Anne Boleyn? Yes,…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/6559"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The filmmakers didn\u2019t invent the emotional connection between the pair<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Anne and Diana both had sisters who caught the royal eye before them<\/h3>\n<\/div>
![\""Mary\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2021\/08\/MX1AK9-d40fb54.jpg?quality=90&resize=342%2C413"\" "\\"\".\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Neither really knew what they were getting into, and both were plagued by royal expectations<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Both had causes they passionately believed in<\/h3>\n<\/div>
![\""Diana,\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2021\/11\/GettyImages-166041533-03358a8.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C404"\" "\\"\"Diana,\\"")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>They both came up against the royal establishment<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Both predicted their own death<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Their deaths were not the end of the story<\/h3>\n<\/div>
Read more about Princess Diana<\/a>:<\/h4>\n
![\""Diana,\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/7\/2016\/02\/GettyImages-157809899-4de97a4.jpg?quality=45&resize=556,556"\" "\\"\"Diana,\\"\/")
<\/div><\/div> <\/div> <\/section>Both left children who carried their qualities<\/h3>\n<\/div>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"