Darling

Diana Scott is a bored young model trapped in a dull marriage to Tony Bridges. She longs for excitement and relevance beyond domestic routines. Her restlessness sets the stage for the dramatic choices ahead.

While filming a street interview, Diana is spotted by Robert Gold, a literary interviewer and TV arts director. He interviews her about young people's views on convention and invites her to watch the final edit in the TV studio. Their electric connection marks the start of a volatile relationship.

After liaisons in hotel rooms, Diana and Robert leave their spouses and move into an apartment together. They become a couple, stepping into London’s glittering but unstable jet-set world. The new arrangement concentrates both ambition and danger in one relationship.

As a couple they enter the fashionable London media/arts circle. Diana is briefly unsettled when Robert visits his wife with children, but she quickly sheds the attachment as she mingles with powerful figures in advertising and fashion. The social ascent reinforces her commitment to the partnership.

Diana's liaison with Miles Brand helps propel her career. Miles uses their affair to secure her a role in a trashy thriller and to pull the strings of the advertising world around her. The collaboration cements her transition from model to coveted public figure.

Diana attends a high-class charity draw for world hunger where famine images loom over guests indulging in fine dining. The stark contrast highlights a glamorous world's emptiness and the price of her rising fame. The scene foreshadows the moral compromises she makes.

Diana becomes pregnant and faces a choice between motherhood and career. She opts for an abortion to safeguard her professional ambitions. The decision marks a painful turning point in her personal life.

Diana travels to Paris with Miles, entering a world of wild parties, beat music and mind games. She initially finds the spectacle repellent but gradually asserts herself, taunting Miles during a ruthless game and earning the crowd’s respect. The trip broadens her sense of identity within the jet-set.

On returning to London, Robert denounces Diana, calling her a whore and ending their relationship. He withdraws emotionally and physically, leaving her to confront the consequences of their liaison. Diana is visibly shaken as the weight of public opinion settles in.

Miles casts Diana as The Happiness Girl in the Glass Corporation’s chocolate campaign, turning her into a symbol of modern pleasure. The campaign elevates her image from backstage player to a major commercial star. The role cements the blend of glamour and commerce shaping her career.

On location at a palazzo near Rome, Diana looks the part in a Renaissance-style setting and completes the Happiness Girl shoot with confidence. Cesare, the palace owner, arrives and proposes marriage, leaving her ambivalent about her future. She politely declines but keeps the door open for possibility.

Back in London, Diana hosts a party with Miles and other media figures. Robert visits and, seeing her with Miles, abruptly leaves again. The glittering gathering hardens the divide between love and career, making her question what she truly wants.

In a moment of escape, Diana impulsively marries Cesare in Italy, seeking romance beyond London’s circles. The marriage proves ill-fated, and she is soon abandoned in the palazzo’s vast rooms. The dream of a fairy-tale life collapses into loneliness.

Diana flees back to London to seek Robert, and they briefly reconnect. He reveals that he is leaving her for good, claiming the affair was an act of revenge. He drives her to Heathrow, resettling her life as Princess Della Romita.

At Heathrow, Diana is hounded by the press who address her as Princess. Overwhelmed by public glare, she boards a plane to leave, marking the end of this turbulent chapter. The jet-set dream dissolves as she looks toward an uncertain future.