"I don’t think of myself as Royalty," says Princess Diana in season 4 of Netflix's The Crown. "First and foremost, I am a wife and a mother. That’s what’s most important to me." To the rest of the world, she was known as "The People's Princess." Born Diana Frances Spencer, she was the first wife of Charles, Prince of Wales. Diana's activism and glamour made her an international icon and earned her popularity—as well as scrutiny from the public and the Royal Family itself.

Princess Diana was initially noted for her shyness, but her charisma and friendliness endeared her to the public and helped her reputation survive the collapse of her marriage. Considered to be very photogenic, she was a leader of fashion in the 1980s and 1990s. Diana's death in a car crash in Paris led to extensive public mourning and global media attention.

It's no surprise, then, that the late princess has been portrayed on the stage and screen numerous times over the years and to varying degress of success and acclaim. Onstage, she is currently being portrayed by Jeanna de Waal in Diana: The Musical, which only recently opened after being delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. Here's a closer look at all the on-screen performances of Diana, dating back to the '80s.

Caroline Bliss in Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story (1982)

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Via YouTube

Just a year after Prince Charles and Diana tied the knot, actress Caroline Bliss played the princess in a dramatization of the royal wedding called Charles & Diana: A Royal Love Story. It was a momentous that was watched by 750 million people around the world.

"So I walked in and sat down, never for a minute thinking that I was anything like Diana," said Bliss in a 2019 interview about auditioning for the part. "It just hadn't occurred to me. I don't think I look very much like her." Bliss then continues on to detail how she then inadvertently gestured just like Diana herself during the interview—and that's what sealed the deal. The rest is cinematic history.

Serena Scott Thomas in Diana: Her True Story (1993)

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Via TV Insider

In 1993, Andrew Morton's biography of Diana, Diana: Her True Story, which was written with her cooperation, became a biopic of the same name, with Serena Scott Thomas in the titular role. Interestingly, Thomas went on to play Kate Middleton's mother Carole years later in the TV movie William & Kate. Diana: Her True Story tries to tell the real story of Diana, Princess of Wales, made at a time when she was already deeply unhappy and her marriage to Prince Charles was known to be troubled, though before their eventual divorce and her tragic death just a few years later.

Related: William & Kate: A Royal Love Story Heads to the Hallmark Channel

Julie Cox in Princess in Love (1996)

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Via People

One of the more scandalous portrayals of the Princess on this list comes from actress Julie Cox in Princess in Love. Based on the biography by Anna Pasternak, the tell-all film detailed Captain James Hewitt's alleged affair with Diana. Directed by David Greene, Cox leads a cast that includes Christopher Bowen as Prince Charles and Christopher Villiers as the aforementioned Captain Hewitt. The film itself was met with criticism, but Cox's portrayal of Diana connected well with viewers.

Amy Seccombe in Diana: A Tribute to the People's Princess (1998)

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Via YouTube

Released just a year after Diana's death, Diana: A Tribute to the People's Princess tells the story of the Diana's last year on Earth. It focuses on her love affairs with Pakistani heart surgeon Hasnat Khan and Dodi Al Fayed, as well as her battles with the press, charity work, and relationship with her sons. Many scenes reenact well-known images and moments from this year, and the movie ends on the note that Diana was about to accept Dodi's proposal of marriage when the fatal accident occurred.

Naomi Watts in Diana (2013)

Naomi Watts as Princess Diana in "Diana" (2013).
Entertainment One

Oliver Hirschbiegel's Diana is about the last years of the Princess' life and is based on Kate Snell's book Diana: Her Last Love. Despite resembling Princess Diana and her talent as an actress, Naomi Watt's turn as the beloved royal received mixed reviews. Nevertheless, Watts put in the work, training with a dialogue coach for six weeks, watching interviews repeatedly and physically transforming with the help of wigs and prosthetics—and she even claimed Diana had visited her in a dream to give her permission.

"I got seduced by the fantastic character," Watts said in an interview with Harper's Bazaar via Vanity Fair. "Diana did a lot of things that had positive and negative results. She was multifaceted."

Related: Diana International Trailer Starring Naomi Watts

Emma Corrin in The Crown: Season 4 (2020)

Emma Corrin poses as Princess Diana in season 3 of Netflix's "The Crown" (2020).
Netflix

The Crown at large follows the political rivalries and romance of Queen Elizabeth II's reign and the events that shaped the second half of the 20th century. Season 4 introduced Princess Diana to the story, and Emma Corrin—a relative unknown before their turn in the series—portrayed the late princess. Corrin channeled some of the most iconic looks in the role, which has likewise proven favorable for Corrin given their recent wins at the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

“I hesitate to tell that story because it almost sounds too insane to be true,” said Corrin to Interview Magazine. “There’s this theme throughout my life of Diana cropping up. It doesn’t feel ordinary.”

Elizabeth Debicki in The Crown: Season 5 (2022)

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Netflix

Elizabeth Debicki will take on the role in the fifth and sixth chapters of the critically acclaimed Netflix series. Debicki's credits also include roles in The Night Manager, Christopher Nolan's Tenet and Steve McQueen's Widows. The show's creators have said the series will reach the early 2000s, which suggests Diana's tragic death will be addressed. Debicki's performance remains to be seen, but the actress has slowly blazed her own trail through major Hollywood projects. Indeed, if the paparazzi photos are anything to go by, Debicki certainly looks the part.

“I think it’s amazing that from age 7, I would remember somebody who had no actual impact on my life as a child in Australia—and yet I was very aware of her presence in the world," said Debicki to Modern Luxury about Diana. "I remember seeing her face on magazines. My mother was very aware of her, as I think a lot of women close to her age were. She really followed her quite intimately because she represented something extremely human and extremely symbolic.”

Kristen Stewart in Spencer (2021)

Kristen Stewart as Diana Spencer
Neon Topic Studios

And, of course, there's Kristen Stewart, whose recent turn has attracted a lot of buzz. Unlike many of the other adaptations, which span large periods of the Princess's life, Pablo Larraín's Spencer focuses on just three pivotal days in Diana's life. Having played Joan Jett in The Runaways and Jean Seberg in Seberg, the actress is no stranger to playing real-life icons. This biopic takes place in December 1991, as Princess Diana spends Christmas at Queen Elizabeth's Sandringham estate and realizes she needs to end her marriage to Prince Charles.

"Diana was a very mysterious figure, and I felt that Kristen could capture that mystery," said Spencer director Pablo Larraín to USA Today. "Sure, there was a chance to become similar to Diana physically through makeup and wardrobe. But the most important thing is her magnetism."