On Screen: “The Lady”
The Lady
Riding on the heels of the Sarah Ferguson-Jeffrey Epstein scandal that’s rocked the British Royal Family, “The Lady” is a partly fictionalized British crime drama based on real events surrounding the murder trial of Jane Andrews, the former Duchess of York’s aide.
When working-class Jane Andrews (Mia McKenzie-Bruce), a 21-year-old from the tiny seaport town of Grimsby, answered a magazine advertisement back in 1988, she was stunned to find herself working in Buckingham Palace as Royal dresser to Sarah Ferguson (Natalie Dormer), then-Duchess of York.
Moving amongst the highest social circles in Britain, ambitious Jane relishes every moment and soon becomes Fergie’s confidante, remaining on her staff even after the divorce from Prince Andrew.
“You know what it’s been like,” Sarah says to Jane, referring to the cruel tabloid coverage that dubbed her ‘Duchess of Pork.’ “I’ve been beaten down until I felt completely dead inside.”
Totally besotted by Sarah Ferguson, ‘fashionista’ Jane is seen in matching outfits, even dying her hair a similar shade of red, only to lose her job with the quixotic Duchess in 1997 after nine years of service.
Still reeling from her fall from grace, Jane falls in love with wealthy financier Thomas Cressman (Ed Speelers). That’s when her severe mental health issues surface, although there were allusions to sexual abuse as a child.
Continually pushing for Cressman to commit to marriage, Jane’s anxiety and frustration reached a breaking point in 2000, when she bludgeoned and stabbed him to death.
After her arrest, Jane was considered a social-climbing gold-digger, dubbed in the press as a ‘bunny boiler,’ referring to Glenn Close’s character in “Fatal Attraction.”
During her 2001 trial, Jane never denied killing Thomas Cressman; instead, she claimed it was self-defense, accusing him of being emotionally, physically and sexually abusive. The jury found her guilty of murder, and she was sentenced to at least 15 years in prison. Jane was released in 2019.
Sympathetically scripted by Debbie O’Malley and directed by Lee Haven Jones, it’s simply a bleak re-hashing of a dated scandal.
After learning about Sarah Ferguson’s continuing ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Natalie Dormer has distanced herself from the mini-series, refusing to promote it and donating her entire salary to charity.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “The Lady” is a tasteless, tawdry, tacky 4, streaming on BritBox.
Susan Granger is a product of Hollywood. Her natural father, S. Sylvan Simon, was a director and producer at M.G.M. and Columbia Pictures. Her adoptive father, Armand Deutsch, produced movies at M.G.M.
As a child, Susan appeared in movies with Abbott & Costello, Red Skelton, Lucille Ball, Margaret O’Brien, and Lassie. She attended Mills College in California, studying journalism with Pierre Salinger, and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with highest honors in journalism.