Kristen Stewart was "viscerally affected" by Princess Diana’s funeral.
The 31-year-old actress plays the late princess - who died in August 1997, aged 36 - in 'Spencer', and she's recalled watching her funeral as a child.
She told Hello! magazine: "I remember imagery from the funeral as a really little kid. I remember being really viscerally affected by that. I remember all the flowers in front of Buckingham Palace."
In the aftermath of Diana's death, crowds assembled across central London and people left tributes outside Buckingham Palace.
Kristen observed that Diana had an "intimate" connection with the British people.
She explained: "I think that there’s this intimate exchange that she had with the public that was so striking for people. They were used to a different face of the royal family. That wasn’t something I grew up with so I always just thought that this person was stolen from us."
The Hollywood star approached the role by allowing Diana to "affect" her.
She said: "Preparing was just about allowing her to affect me, absorbing her and feeling free to run and dance.”
Kristen also worked on her British accent for the role, and admitted that she learned it "as best [she] could".
Reflecting on the challenge of playing the late princess, Kristen shared: "I watched her, I looked at her face and then thought it was really important to forget all of those things. I needed to feel like anything could happen."
Kristen previously claimed she felt "lingering energy" of the late princess in her when she made the movie.
She said: "I don’t know if I believe in anything. I don’t believe in ghosts, but I don’t not believe in ghosts. I believe in a lingering energy. I took her in, whether or not it was my idea of her or there was some actual literal remnant of her."
