Theron And Knightley To Play Diana In Rival Movies

The Monster star is said to be in the frame to portray the late British royal in a movie centred on her friendship with her former bodyguard, Ken Wharfe, who will be reportedly played by Trainspotting actor Ewan McGregor.

The film is due to start shooting early next year (11) but is set for some fierce competition - Pirates of the Caribbean beauty Knightley is rumoured to be playing the princess in a separate biopic.

Producer Stephen Evans, who is helming the Theron project, tells Britain's Daily Mail, "We are intending to make the authentic movie of Diana by using the voices of the people who were there - and Ken Wharfe was right there at her side at the most significant part of her life."

But bosses behind the Knightley movie are determined to outdo their rival film - they are said to be lining up Dame Helen Mirren, who won an Oscar for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in 2006's The Queen, to play Diana's mother, Frances Shand Kydd.