The film's development coincided with a revival of favourable public sentiment in respect to the British monarchy, a downturn in fortunes for Blair, and the inquest into Diana's death, Operation Paget.

Immediately, her death presents problems for her former husband, Prince Charles, and the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, what to accord the mother of a future king who is no longer a member of the royal family.

Queen Elizabeth II wonders if Blair will turn his modernisation pledge on to the royal family since he attempts to have her reconsider her views on the funeral plans.

Following a speech in which Blair describes Diana as the "People's Princess" and the adoption of the title by the press, an outpouring of grief by the general public begins in broadcasts and displays of floral tributes so numerous at Buckingham and Kensington Palaces that the main entrances onto the complexes have to be rerouted.

The royal family's senior members make no effort to acknowledge Diana's significance to society as the Queen feels that she must comfort and shield her grandsons following the death of their mother, and so remains on holiday at Balmoral.

Blair adamantly insists that the royal family fly the flag at Buckingham Palace at half-mast, that the Queen pay her respects to Diana and give a public address consoling the country.

The film uses archival footage of Diana, Princess of Wales, Camilla Parker Bowles, Nicholas Owen, Julia Somerville, Martyn Lewis, Trevor McDonald and John Suchet.

Morgan has said that her performance was so convincing that, by the end of production, crew members who had been accustomed to slouching or relaxing when they addressed her were standing straight up and respectfully folding their hands behind their backs.

[13] ITV's role in the production of the film allowed them an option for its television premiere and it was broadcast on 2 September 2007 (coinciding that weekend with a memorial service to Diana) to an average audience of 7.9 million, winning its timeslot.

Special features include a making-of featurette and an audio commentary by Stephen Frears, writer Peter Morgan and Robert Lacey, biographer of Queen Elizabeth II.

[18] The change may have been made to avoid confusing the audience by depicting the complicated family relationships involved—[citation needed] Fellowes was, in fact, also Diana's brother-in-law (by his marriage to her sister, Lady Jane Spencer) and is a first cousin of Sarah, Duchess of York.

The website's critical consensus reads, "Full of wit, humour and pathos, Stephen Frears' moving portrait looks at life of the British royals during the period after Princess Diana's death.

[21] Before the film was released, critics praised both Stephen Frears and Peter Morgan, who later received Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Helen Mirren's portrayal, which garnered her acclaim from critics around the world, made her a favourite for the Academy Award for Best Actress well before the film was released in cinemas.

[23] Amongst the few negative reviews, Slant Magazine's Nick Schager criticised the insider portraiture of the film as "somewhat less than revelatory, in part because Morgan's script succumbs to cutie-pie jokiness [...] and broad caricature", mentioning particularly "James Cromwell's Prince Philip, who envisions the crowned heads as exiled victims and the gathering crowds as encroaching 'Zulus'".