Warning: This post contains spoilers for Spencer.

Spencer sees Princess Diana haunted by a long-dead British monarch — and there’s good reason why she keeps seeing Anne Boleyn of all people. Directed by Pablo Larraín from a screenplay by Steven Knight, Spencer identifies itself as a fable that is based on a true tragedy. While many of the scenarios in the film are fabricated for the story, the appearance of Anne Boleyn offers a sense of foreboding for the late Princess of Wales.

Princess Diana (Kristen Stewart) receives a book detailing the history of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII who was accused of and tried for treason, adultery, and a plot to kill the king. She was beheaded in 1536 for these alleged crimes, though historians surmise that the accusations were false, lobbied at her so that Henry VIII could marry Jane Seymour, one of Anne’s maids of honor at court. Spencer dredges up Anne’s past and positions her fraught relationship with her husband and looming death as a parallel to what Princess Diana is going through in the film.

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As though in a horror film, Princess Diana is haunted by Anne Boleyn in Spencer, seeing visions of the 16th century monarch, with Anne appearing as a spiritual omen in times of deep crises for Diana. The Princess of Wales sees Anne Boleyn as a kindred spirit, someone who appeals to Diana considering the turmoil going on in her own life. Anne often appears as an omen to Diana, standing as both a mirror and a warning of what could happen if she allowed herself to become a victim of the monarchy. She knows Anne was beheaded to make way for another queen of England, and this chills Diana because she feels like she’s being ignored and pushed out by Prince Charles and his affair with Camilla Parker Bowles.

In Anne, Diana sees her own tragically potential future and this grips her as she spirals over the course of the three-day holiday at Sandringham Estate. Diana is also greatly terrified by the presence of Anne Boleyn, and this consuming fear makes it all the more difficult to engage with her family or pretend that everything is normal when it very well isn’t. At one point, Diana remarks to the staff at Sandringham that she and Anne Boleyn are distantly related, which makes the late queen’s haunting of the princess in Spencer all the more unsettling. Anne’s presence in the film touches upon Diana’s fears and her distance from the marriage she seemingly wants to leave behind. The yearning to return to herself is juxtaposed with who she is now and the film draws upon the similarities between her marital circumstances and that of Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII.

Spencer’s iteration of Princess Diana did not want to get lost in her monarchical or marital duties if it meant losing herself in the process. Thus, her haunting by Anne Boleyn serves as a reminder of what might happen to her if she lets these things swallow her whole. The former queen ultimately foreshadows what will become of Diana, but the kindred spirit helps guide her in a direction she chooses to take, rather than one that is dictated for her.

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Mae Abdulbaki
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Mae Abdulbaki is a movie reviews editor with Screen Rant. She previously wrote about a variety of movies and TV shows for Inverse, CinemaBlend, Pajiba, and The Young Folks, where she wrote reviews, features, news pieces. Her other work can be found at The Mary Sue, Film School Rejects, UPROXX, Heroic Hollywood, Looper, The List, and Bam Smack Pow, among others. Mae has also appeared on television segments, podcasts, and panels to discuss all things entertainment.

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