Elizabeth Debicki in Dior
This is the photo Dior sent around, and while she as a human looks lovely, I feel like this choice of picture -- again, by Dior -- makes the dress look like it needs a hoik, or is too big, or something. For me that spoils the effect. It is NOT a strapless dress...
... as you can see here. The back is beautiful, and everything is connected so it's not actually in danger of falling. It just sits too low in the front. Meanwhile, the warmth in this picture of Elizabeth with her on-screen kids is so, so charming. They're up next...
Timothee Sambor and Teddy Hawley
Timothee certainly has Wills' shock of hair down pat, and Teddy is a GREAT Harry. They're both adorable, and so dapper. That red velvet is frankly a fashion high point for anyone, man or child.
with Dominic West
And here's your Chuck and Di together. I don't think they HAVE to cast a lookalike as Charles, but when they get such an UNCANNY doppelganger for Diana it really does kind of take you out of it to see Dominic West being so... NOT Charles. (I investigated this back in 2020, by the way.)
Dominic West and family and wife Catherine FitzGerald
Dominic brought his whole family. His daughter with her Babar (I think) stuffie is so sweet. Catherine FitzGerald looks a bit like she blew in off a formal pirate ship, but at least she went with unusual shoes. (Also, I misread her name at first as Caitlin FitzGerald, an actress who bears an uncanny resemblance to Elizabeth Debicki, so that was a fun circular moment.)
Imelda Staunton
I enjoy Imelda going for a suit -- talk about separating yourself from your character, which is something I suspect she'll be doing for a while. With her hair, she's giving me a bit of an Emma Thompson vibe somehow. Again, I am very curious how she'll channel QEII, or whether it'll be too Dolores Umbridge. She's a good actress though so TRUST THE PROCESS, I guess.
Leslie Manville
And here is your Margaret. (Timothy Dalton pops by this season to play her former paramour Peter Townsend, but he didn't come to the premiere.) She looks elegant as hell, and I can imagine her being a VERY withering and snotty Margaret, in a good way.
Marcia Warren
Marcia has had a long career, but you might know her as batty old Mrs. Boggle from Agatha Raisin. Her purse is a hoot, and I enjoy the velvet pieces, even if they might not QUITE go together. Agatha would approve.
Salim Daw
He plays Mohamed al Fayed, father of Dodi. It's a pretty good resemblance. That jacket is GORGEOUS, as befits a character who once owned Harrods.
Claudia Harrison
Claudia is Princess Anne. Erin Doherty was so utterly perfect in likeness and attitude in that part; she'll be a difficult act to follow. In that sense, she probably benefits from there being so few lookalikes in this cast.
Prasanna Puwanarajah
This EXTREMELY handsome gentleman plays Martin Bashir, the BBC journalist who elicited the famous "There were three of us in this marriage" quote. That interview has its own Wikipedia page. It was revealed in the last few years that he showed Diana a "fake abortion receipt" (!!) to compound her sense that Charles was having an affair with Tiggy Legge-Bourke, which some believed unfairly tipped Diana into doing the interview. What a wild ride that page is.
Olivia Williams
Olivia plays Camilla, and I can definitely see that working (although seeing them together, I think Catherine FitzGerald ALSO would have made a good Camilla and playing that opposite her real-life husband, especially given THEIR whole brouhaha recently, would be an extreme trip.) The red feathery touches are faintly villainous.
Gillian Anderson
She's not still with Peter Morgan, per the Internet, so... is her Maggie Thatcher showing up again?!? Lord I hope not. But she LOOKS great.
Erin Richards
Erin plays Dodi Fayed's fiancee, Kelly Fisher. Her pink caftan is VERY nice and it makes me miss Emerald Fennell, who wore many a caftan.
Khalid Abdalla
And here is your Dodi. I wonder if this part was a bit weird for these actors -- you're playing for soap opera (because that's what the show is, not because he's doing anything wrong) these things that were actually shocking and tragic and deep, deep national cuts.
Will Powell and Timothee Sambor
So I THINK, from what I can tell, that Will plays a slightly older Harry, taking over from the aforepictured Teddy in the red velvet tux. Timothee is replaced at that point by another actor who didn't come to the premiere, so we're mixing brothers here. That little crooked bow tie is so cute.
James Murray
James plays Prince Andrew. As an actor he somehow looks like neither of his TV parents, nor the actual Prince Andrew. But I can see they're going for the "dashing" part, because back then people thought he was, because we didn't know. WE DIDN'T KNOW. So James can bring his own aura to this. Sadly, his Fergie doesn't appear to have attended, but there is one.
Jonny Lee Miller
He's playing John Major, the former PM, and here's where I'll eat all my words on people maybe not looking the parts -- BEHOLD, it's amazing what hair and makeup and props can do. (Here is the real one.)
Jonathan Pryce
Credit where credit is due: They did better with him as Philip, visually, than I would have thought. I will still go to the grave saying Charles Dance's name. Which will be really weird for my family.
Humayan Saeed
This gent plays Hasnat Khan, the heart surgeon whom Diana fell for; their relationship ended like a month or six weeks before she died (I think because he was private and didn't think the media attention would be healthy?), and her friends said she called him the love of her life. How sad to see it laid out like that and realize he probably WAS, even if only because she did not have much life left after him.
Edith Bowman
And here's TV presenter Edith Bowman in a gold lame housecoat, which really REALLY makes me miss Emerald Fennell. She would have liked this. Flashbacks, anyone?