Disney Princesses in Real Life Jirka Vã¤ã¤tã¤inen

If you've watched Spencer, you may have questions about Maggie, Princess Diana's royal dresser and confidant, who tells her that she's "in love" with her at the end of the movie.

Spencer, which premiered on November 5, 2021, stars Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana. The movie is set over three days in December 1991 as the British royal family celebrates Christmas at Queen Elizabeth II's Sandringham Estate. The film sees Diana become less and less connected with the royal institution as her marriage to Prince Charles—with whom she shares sons William and Harry—falls apart. Sally Hawkins stars as Maggie, Diana's royal dresser who seems to be one of the few royal staffers who understands her. Maggie and Diana are so close that when Maggie is removed from the princess' staff, she refuses to get dressed. Maggie also plays an important role in helping Diana flee Sandringham with William and Harry. In Maggie's final scene in Spencer, she tells Diana that she's "in love" with her and has been for years. Diana is shocked at Maggie's confession, and the two share a laugh over it before spending the rest of the day at the beach together.

So who is Maggie, Princess Diana's dresser, in Spencer, and was she a real person? Read on for what we know about the dresser who told Diana she's "in love" with her.

Who is Maggie, Princes Diana's dresser, in Spencer?

So…who is Maggie, Princess Diana' dresser, in Spencerand is she based on a real person? The answer to the second part of that question is no. In an interview with Vulture, Spencer screenwriter Steven Knight confirmed that Maggie isn't based on a "specific" person but was inspired by memories Sandringham staff shared with him about Diana. "I have to tread very carefully when talking about specifics because I got the information from people who were there on the understanding that there was no specific identification of anyone," he said. "I will also say that those things that seem the most obvious are true." Carolyn Harris, a royal historian, also confirmed to Vulture that Diana preferred certain staff over others because she didn't know who "she could trust." "Diana did sometimes speak informally with the staff," Harris said. "She became increasingly concerned that her movements were being monitored, for instance, so she liked to be surrounded by people she could trust."

However, that doesn't mean that parts of Maggie weren't real. Telegraph referenced two people that Maggie could have been based on the close relationship between palace staff and royal family members. "The relationship between royals and their dressers is incredibly intimate," royal author Anna Pasternak told Telegraph. "There is this bond of trust between them which is not just about clothes, it's so much more."

The first person Telegraph referenced as possible inspiration for Maggie is Paul Burrell, Princess Diana's former butler, who has been described as her "rock" and the "only man she ever trusted." Paul joined Charles and Diana's staff at Highgrove House in Gloucestershire in 1987. He served as Diana's butler until her death in August 1997. According to Telegraph, Burrell was also one of the few members of Charles and Diana's staff to tay with her after their divorce in 1986. "These are the people pressing tissue into their silk smalls," Pasternak said. Like Maggie in Spencer, Burrell is also gay. Burrell came out in 2017 after his wedding to his now-husband, Graham Cooper, a lawyer he met 10 years prior. Before his marriage to Cooper, Burrell was married to Maria Cosgrove, whom he shares two sons with. (Burrell and Cosgrove, a royal staff member for Prince Philip, met while working at Buckingham Palace.)

A source told The Sun in 2017 that Diana was the "only woman" that Burrell had told about his sexuality, which seems to mirror Maggie and Diana's relationship in Spencer. "Paul's friends and family all know but for a long time he kept it a closely guarded secret. He did share it with Diana while he worked with her because they were so close. But at the time she was the only woman he felt he could tell," the insider said.

Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire.

Another person that Telegraph referenced as a possible inspiration for Maggie is Anna Harvey, a former Vogue editor, who was Princess Diana's stylist and confidante. According to Telegraph, Harvey was assigned as Diana's stylist after her engagement to Charles in 1981. "It was a great mark of trust to confide in me so soon," Harvey told Telegraph in 2017. "Diana and I went on to work together for 16 years."

Harvey's memories also mirror several scenes between Maggie and Diana in Spencer, such as when Harvey had to dress Diana for tea at Balmoral Castle, where the royals often spend the holidays. "'We're going to Balmoral and we have to dress for tea,' Diana would say, and then we'd have to guess about the style of dress she should wear and find lots of options," Harvey recalled in the 2017 interview. "Once, she put on a beautiful black velvet dress with a grey taffeta skirt. 'Would you mind if I call in my husband to have a look?'

Janette Huskie, another formal royal servant, also told Telegraph that Diana would often seek "reassurance" for her outfits, especially for special occasions like the holidays. "She was very young and very lovely," Huskie said, recalling that Diana would often ask, "Do I look OK?" before going down for dinner. Pasternak also emphasized that a royal dresser can "never be a social friend" as "there is this peculiar mix of intimacy and deference." Huskie also referenced Angela Kelly, Queen Elizabeth II's dresser, as an example of how dressers can have "tremendous power."

She points to Angela Kelly, the Queen's senior dresser as the ultimate modern example of the dresser with "tremendous power". "She has gone from being the woman who wears in the Queen's shoes and curates her wardrobe to the person who sits watching TV with Her Majesty after her husband has died," Huskie said. Pasternak added, "She has an indispensable place within the hierarchy,"

Diana: Her True Story — In Her Own Words

Image: Courtesy of Thorndike Press.

For more about Princess Diana, read Andrew Morton's biography, Diana: Her True Story — In Her Words. The New York Times bestseller, which was first published in 1992, is the only authorized biography about Princess Diana. The book, which Diana collaborated on, includes raw and unfiltered quotes from the Princess of Wales about her unhappy marriage to Prince Charles, her relationship with Queen Elizabeth II, her life in the House of Windsor, and her hopes, dreams and fears for her children, Prince William and Prince Harry, before her death in 1997. The biography, which has been described as the "closest we will ever come" to a Princess Diana autobiography, was republished with new material in 2017 to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the People's Princess' death.

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Disney Princesses in Real Life Jirka Vã¤ã¤tã¤inen

Source: https://stylecaster.com/maggie-princess-diana/

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