Keira Knightley as Diana, Helen Mirren as her Mum?

[RUMOR]: The Daily Mail says Pathe has a Princess Di biopic on the fast track to coincide with Diana’s 50th birthday next year. Producers want Keira Knightley to star as the Princess of Wales and Helen Mirren as her mother.

‘The project is in the early stages but Pathe has chosen 2011 quite deliberately,’ says an insider.

The film will chart the early years of Diana‚Äôs life, her ill-fated marriage to Charles, their separation and her death in Paris in 1997…

‘It will be in the same vein as their movie The Queen and will detail the ups and downs of Diana’s marriage and the early lives of the Princes.’

In The Duchess Knightley played Georgiana, the fifth Duchess of Devonshire ‚Äì who was the great-great-great-great aunt of Diana, so that’s a tantalizing connection. But wouldn’t it be more fun to have Helen Mirren reprise her role as the Royal Mother-in-Law?

(thanks Kevin K.) Helen Mirren and Diana’s mother Frances Shand Kydd after the cut.