Diana Undone: The Most Haunting Moments of The Princess

What else can you know? Princess Dianaa strange life and an incredibly tragic death?

Have Prince William and Prince Harry— on the one hand the People’s Princess, and on the other — a thorn in the side of the Crown from the moment she and Prince Charles said “I,” depending on who you ask — turns 25 on August 31. She is one of the most outspoken public figures of all time, her relationship with the royal family, the press and the public, who have alternately adored and seemed to scrutinize her from every angle.

But the HBO documentary Princess, composed entirely of archival footage and commentary from the 1980s and 90s, takes it back to the era it’s about, in which her life unfolded: no re-enactments, no narrative or contemporary analysis of the past. Much of the ambient noise is created by the sound of camera shutters clicking.

The end result isn’t an attempt to see the “real” Diana behind the scenes, but rather a ruthless look at how her real life was turned into a 24/7 spectacle. And it is unclear whether anything has changed 42 years after the British press first learned about the most promising love of the heir to the throne.