The Duchess
She was hounded by the paparazzi, was a fashion icon of her day and lived in an unhappy marriage that involved another woman although it may sound like something from the royal pages of a national newspaper Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire lived in the eighteenth century.
One of the most fascinating woman of the age Georgiana was loved and respected and her story comes to the big screen this week with Keira Knightley in the lead role. But inevitably comparisons will be, and have been, drawn with the life of the late Princess Diana.
But this was never a factor for director Saul Dibb, famous for Bullet Boy, who wanted to tell Georgiana's story: 'Well I mean the Amanda Foreman book never mentioned princess Diana but every review of that book drew those comparisons and I think in the making of the film those parallels didn’t have any bearing on what we were doing.
We were trying to make film about people in their own right and nail their relationships in as true a way as we possibly could and their relationships with each other and not their external relationships to anybody else, so it was never once a something that we talked about as a reference for us or anything that might influence the actors or their approach.'
I was eleven when Diana died so I really don’t what the actual story is so I don’t feel that I can comment on the parallels but I think I was definitely aware of the images,' adds actress Keira Knightley.
'I knew when I was going into it that she was a distant relation but that’s as far as my knowledge goes. As Saul said I was very much making a film about Georgiana the Duchess of Devonshire and I think that she is an interesting enough person to warrant a film completely about her without comparison.'
Dibb continues: 'Yes there are many parallels but they could be parallels drawn with any number of tragic female figures, Marilyn Monroe you could pick on, it’s purely because of the ancestral link that people are so keen to draw that one.'
Dibb, Knightley, Hayley Atwell and Dominic Cooper have gathered at Soho Hotel to promote the film that follows Georgiana; married at seventeen to the Duke of Devonshire, played by Ralph Fiennes, who wants nothing more from her than to produce an heir.
She embarks on a doomed love affair with Earl Grey (Cooper) as well as having to live a complex menage a trois with the Duke and best friend Lady Bess Foster (Atwell).
'She was incredibly young and incredibly romantic and impressionistic and she certainly finds out that the romance and the reality of the situation is very different I think it’s the story of a fairytale going incredibly wrong,' claims Keira.
After receiving critical acclaim for her roles in both Pride and Prejudice and last year's Atonement Knightley has become one of the most sought after talents as she took on one of the biggest roles for an actress this year.
'Yes it was a wonderful it was completely terrifying and your right it’s very rare there are much fewer great female roles than there are for actors so when one comes along and you get an opportunity to play it it’s absolutely phenomenal and completely terrifying. But Saul is great these two are great...
Dominic chips in: 'Dominic and Hayley.'
'Fuck off absolutely fuck off,' laughs Keira. 'And Ralph Fiennes is fantastic so you couldn’t ask for a more supportive team behind you I think I was very lucky.'
But the young British actress seems upbeat about more movies being made that feature strong roles for women. 'I think a lot of it is to do with the fact there are fewer female filmmakers than there are men but I don’t know but recently I seem to be getting sent books and ideas for much stronger characters which is completely fantastic.
'If there is public demand for much stronger female roles then the business will give it to them and if they are successful then there will be more made and if they aren’t then there won’t it’s very much up to the public.'