Keira Knightley is 'The Duchess'

Keira Knightley takes centre stage in this lavish portrait of the Duchess of Devonshire from Brit director Saul Dibb

Everyone’s favourite pouting Home Counties clothes-horse, Keira Knightley has strayed from her romantic costume-drama comfort zone into all-out bodice-ripper territory on the evidence of the trailer for her new film, ‘The Duchess’.

In the film, Knightley plays eighteenth-century fashionista the Duchess of Devonshire (apparently an ancestor of Princess Diana) who is alternatively celebrated and reviled for her outspoken personal and political beliefs.

While few would see the role as a dramatic departure for Ms Knightley, it’s slightly odd to hear that the film is the sophomore directing effort from talented Brit Saul Dibb who gave us ace tit-for-tat gun London crime drama ‘Bullet Boy’ in 2005. You’d half expect the film to be an East End family saga revolving around a foul-mouthed but endearing landlady.

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