Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, has published his memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, detailing explosive claims about the Royal Family, King Charles’s reaction to the 1997 car crash, and decades-old dynastic disputes that have triggered an unprecedented response from Buckingham Palace.
Memoir Publication and Buckingham Palace’s Response
Charles Spencer published his memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, on 22 September. The book immediately sparked a royal controversy and a royal war of words, leading to an extraordinary public statement from Buckingham Palace addressing the memoir’s contentious claims about King Charles.
While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.
Buckingham Palace spokesman
In response to the palace’s statement, the Earl remarked that he was being “gaslit.” The 62-year-old author stated that with the 30th anniversary of the most tragic death in human history approaching, he wanted to get in before someone like Amol Rajan did, adding quite simply that he could do with the money.
Claims Surrounding the 1997 Paris Tragic Death
The memoir revisits Earl Spencer’s location in Cape Town when he first learned Diana had died. Initial reports had been more hopeful that she was merely slightly injured, while commentators implied she had got what she deserved for betraying the royal family, before they had to change their tone when her death was announced. According to the book, the King later told him, We’ll forget her soon enough
, and insinuated the Earl was a liar. The Earl has also alleged that Charles acted “giddyfollowing the death of his ex-wife in a car crash in 1997 and told her he was not
in love” with her on the eve of their 1981 wedding.
Disputes Over the Westminster Abbey Funeral Procession
At just 12 and 15 years old respectively, Prince Harry and Prince William followed directly behind their mother’s casket during the 1997 funeral ceremony. According to excerpts from the book, a senior advisor to Queen Elizabeth II informed the Earl that the two princes were scheduled to participate in the funeral cortege, which caused the Earl to declare, that’s not going to happen
. The text claims that Charles telephoned shortly afterwards to mention that eighteen years previously, he had taken part in the funeral procession for his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten. In response, the Earl noted that Charles had reached the age of 30 during Lord Mountbatten’s 1979 funeral. The defining memory of Earl Spencer will ultimately remain the emotionally charged tribute he presented inside Westminster Abbey during Diana’s service. The author explains that he faked the loss of his speech paperwork during rehearsals to prevent anyone from reading it beforehand and attempting to soften his fierce attacks against both the press and the monarchy. Following the relentless pursuit of Diana by photographers, he mentions personally calling newspaper executives to revoke their invitations to the Abbey service after the notices had already been dispatched. Rather than resting in a traditional cemetery, she was laid to rest upon an island within the Althorp estate belonging to the Spencer family, an arrangement that required a bishop to consecrate the land beforehand, as the publication outlines.
Historical Grievances and Family Revelations
The publication has generated significant curiosity largely due to its settling of historical grievances involving the House of Windsor. It can feel like medieval barons jousting. Nearly all remarks concerning King Charles are critical, such as the assertion that he felt envy regarding the widespread public admiration directed at his wife. The book reports a conversation in which it’s claimed the then-Prince Charles complained: I mean, I'm 43,' he said, 'and I employ fifty people' – he was flushed in the face now – 'but my parents insist on treating me like – like a child!'
The monarch is depicted as resentful, supported by a senior courtier
reporting an alleged comment by the late Queen: He even resented it when I taught him the alphabet.
The text includes an eccentric story regarding internal royal deliberations concerning whether the ears of the former Prince of Wales ought to have been surgically pinned back. There is also the assertion that Diana claimed the King harboured romantic feelings for his valet, an idea the writer admits felt unlikely. What comes across is how close the Spencers were to the royals – but without being friends. Charles and Diana Spencer went to the same children’s parties as the young royals. The aristocratic youngsters are characterised as the sort of visitors who drop by, smash up your playthings, and then vanish.
Beyond immediate royal tensions, the book examines dynastic history. The author notes that his father, Johnnie, held romantic feelings for a young Princess Elizabeth and desired marriage, yet his ambitions were blocked by Lord Mountbatten, who intended for Elizabeth to marry his nephew Philip. Lord Mountbatten summoned the Earl’s father and told him any ambitions for securing the future Queen’s affections were out of the question. The Earl adds that his father’s regimental chaplain went on record about significant counselling and support provided for his father’s broken heart after his relationship with the Queen was terminated. If Johnnie had been successful, it would subsequently have put a different Charles on the throne. The fallout and familial conflicts following Diana’s passing continue to receive prominent attention inside Earl Spencer’s book – Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – alongside the worldwide media attention it has sparked, thereby reviving long-standing debates regarding the character of King Charles, his conduct towards the young princess, and his connection to the present Queen Camilla.