About The Portrait of Princess Diana

Nicola Green was commissioned by Lightbox and Altitude Films to create an iconic artwork of Princess Diana to serve as the key promotional image for the new documentary The Princess launching globally on the 30th June 2022.

This artwork interrogates the notion of 'princess' that perpetuates stereotypical ideals of femininity, womanhood and domesticity, as well as certain - usually white western - beauty standards. You can find out more about this in Green’s blog post “The Princess: The Female Gaze”.

This artwork, a repeat image, transitioning from light to dark, represents metamorphosis, it captures a moment of transition, contradictions and complexity, where her role is full of dualities but where her agency, independence and power are strikingly evident. Whilst she is celebrated for her defiance and strength, it is this combined with her fallibility and vulnerability that made people love her even more. Diana subverted and challenged the princess trope, but she also had a softness that played into it. Her empathy and connection across humanity, combined with her grace, was where her ultimate power lay. This is why Princess Diana is still a figure of such enduring appeal and inspiration today, however we may interpret her story.

About The Film The Princess

The film is unique as it only uses first hand footage from that time, so it allows viewers to watch Diana’s life as it unfolded, but also to re-examine the story from the fresh perspective of 2022, twenty-five years after her death. Green created a portrait of Princess Diana that captures a different side to the recognisable paparazzi images and familiar official portraits. It is a universal, accessible, yet thought-provoking work that encapsulates her multidimensional story and the different facets of her identity.

Film by Nicola Green about the artwork

Film by Nicola Green about the female gaze

Official film trailer

“Green has achieved something remarkable by creating a modern classic that completely refreshes the iconography of Princess Diana by offering something simultaneously instantly recognisable and completely surprising”

— Simon Chinn, Producer of The Princess

“Growing up as a child, I knew Princess Diana personally and was in awe of her power as a hard-working professional woman, working so powerfully to highlight the plights and causes of others. I have also reflected on how we view a ‘princess’. The world continues to perpetuate certain (usually white western) beauty standards as well as the ideal of womanhood and domesticity. Being a princess is still often the ultimate aspiration for little girls. When she was thrust into the limelight, Princess Diana was cast as demure and virtuous, expected to conform to a stereotypical idea of femininity and to perform a role of romanticised compliance. A modern fairy tale of a Disney princess with her own Prince Charming.My artwork reinterprets both princesses and the male gaze tropes, capturing a moment of transition, contradiction and complexity where her agency, independence and power are strikingly evident.”

— Nicola Green

The Princess, Golden

Silkscreen Print and 24ct Gold Leaf, Birch wood panel with aluminium sub-frame

90 x 70 cm

Unique Artwork - To create The Princess, Golden the artist took the bold, graphic imagery created for the film, overlaying it on a hand-crafted bespoke 24ct gold panel.