A memoir by Charles Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana, has gone on sale following a wave of controversy over revelations about Britain’s royal family contained in extracts from the book.
Gatekeepers News reports that “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister”, published by Penguin, chronicles Diana’s life and death from Spencer’s perspective. The 384-page memoir has been released in several English-speaking countries and translated into 12 languages.
The book comes nearly three decades after Diana died in a 1997 car crash in Paris at the age of 36.
Extracts serialised by the British Daily Mail last week generated widespread headlines, particularly over Spencer’s claims about Diana’s former husband, King Charles III.
Spencer, 62, claimed that Charles told him in a telephone conversation shortly after Diana’s death: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
He also alleged that Charles “sounded giddily elated, like a lottery winner” after learning of Diana’s death.
Buckingham Palace issued a rare response to the claims, saying the King was mindful that grief between siblings could affect memory and judgement many years after a loss.
However, Spencer rejected the suggestion that his account was inaccurate.
Speaking to the BBC, he said:
“Those are exactly the words he said.”
He added:
“I don’t hear (Charles) saying he didn’t say that.”
Spencer also criticised the palace’s response, telling The Mail on Sunday:
“It is not every day you wake up to find you’ve been gaslit by the king.”
Dispute over Diana’s funeral
Spencer also recounted a disagreement with Charles over the decision for Diana’s sons, Princes William and Harry, to walk behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral procession.
According to Spencer, Charles “went ballistic” after he argued that Diana would not have wanted her sons, then aged 15 and 12, to participate in the procession.
The palace statement said:
“His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
The claims have been disputed by some royal commentators.
Royal biographer Robert Hardman said on X that he had witnessed Charles “distraught and in tears” at Diana’s funeral.
Andrew Morton, author of the 1992 biography Diana: Her True Story, described Spencer’s account of the alleged phone conversation as “incendiary and disputed” in a comment published by The Times.
Royal commentator Jennie Bond, meanwhile, described the memoir as “vindictive” in an interview with the BBC.
Diana’s struggles and Al-Fayed allegations
Spencer also writes that Diana contemplated suicide at points during her troubled marriage to Charles.
He recounts an incident in which she drove to a notorious clifftop in southern England where people had previously died after deliberately falling from the cliffs. According to Spencer, her love for William and Harry prevented her from going further.
Diana and Charles were married from 1981 until their divorce in 1996. Charles later married Camilla Parker Bowles, his long-time partner, who is now Queen Camilla.
In another claim, Spencer says Diana felt “revulsion” towards Mohamed Al-Fayed, the father of her boyfriend Dodi Fayed, who also died in the Paris crash.
Spencer alleged that the former Harrods owner, who has faced numerous allegations of sexual abuse, had groped Diana and made sexually suggestive remarks to her.
Diana’s legacy
Diana’s death triggered an enormous public outpouring of grief in Britain and around the world and intensified scrutiny of the royal family, including criticism of the response of the then monarch, Queen Elizabeth II.
Spencer inherited the Spencer family’s Althorp estate, where he and Diana grew up. Diana is buried on an island within the estate grounds.
Following her death, Spencer accused the media of having “blood on their hands” and, during his emotional eulogy at her funeral, pledged to protect her two sons.
The memoir is being released in Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia, with translated editions also available in countries including Germany, Brazil and Spain.
Despite the publicity surrounding its extracts, the book was ranked 12th on Amazon UK’s non-fiction bestseller list on Tuesday.
An American Diana fan, Mary Scheible, 69, said she bought a copy while visiting London because she wanted to read Spencer’s full account before forming an opinion.
“What I’ve seen are sentences taken maybe out of context. So I want to read the book to get the full story and then make my opinion.”
Spencer has said the memoir was written to challenge what he considers to be inaccuracies that have become accepted over time.
“Diana would be cheering from the rafters at this book,” he told The Mail on Sunday.
