King Charles is probably accustomed by now to appearing in tabloid headlines, but we imagine he was not expecting this: In August, it emerged that Earl Charles Spencer, 62, the brother of the late Princess Diana, is publishing a new book in which he promises to reveal new details about her life and, above all, her death.
On Wednesday, excerpts from the book, "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," leaked ahead of publication and revealed a heated phone call Spencer says he had with Charles in 1997, shortly after the princess’s death.
In the book, Spencer recalls the debate over whether Princes William and Harry, then 15 and 12, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the funeral procession. Spencer says he opposed the idea, after which he received a phone call from Charles, who was still the Prince of Wales at the time.
““Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped,” Spencer wrote. “I assumed the pause signaled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’” Spencer wrote.
Spencer added that he was “so stunned” it took him several seconds to respond before saying, “I can’t believe you just said that,” and hanging up.
(Photo: Screenshot)
Buckingham Palace responded to the claims, saying: “While as a matter of principle we do not generally comment on books, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of grieving a family member can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others may not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
Spencer’s memoir is expected to be published in the coming days and promises to offer a deeply personal account of his relationship with his sister, one he has never previously shared in such detail.
Overseas, the book is already being described as historic, and Spencer has said it will address his sister’s unhappy marriage and the turbulent days following her death.
“As the 30th anniversary of Diana’s tragic death approaches, I have once again been inundated with interview requests about my sister,” he said. “That convinced me to put my thoughts and memories in writing, once and for all, rather than again endure the discomfort of reading other people’s views, many of which are based on falsehoods that over time have come to be accepted as fact.”
As of this writing, the book is expected to be published in 12 languages and offer an unprecedented glimpse behind the scenes of a tumultuous week in which the House of Windsor was shaken by a global wave of grief and public anger.
Earlier this month, Spencer published a post in which he called it “the most personal book” he has ever written and shared his feelings after spending three days recording the audiobook version.
“When I finished the recording, I thought to myself: ‘That is exactly what I wanted and needed to say — and I think Diana would have approved of every word.’”
Diana's brother, and book author, Earl Charles Spencer
(Photo: Jordan Pettitt/PA Images)
On September 15, it was reported that four copies of "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister" were stolen from a truck in the Netherlands shortly before the book’s publication. According to the report, the truck was transporting copies of the book to a Dutch warehouse for distribution to bookstores, and the driver parked overnight to sleep.
When he woke, he discovered the truck had been broken into, but only several copies of Spencer’s memoir were missing. Dutch police are reportedly investigating the theft.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before. This is probably the biggest book of the year, and security around it was incredibly tight,” a source told the Daily Mail.
“Every possible precaution was taken to prevent it from leaking before the serialized excerpts were published. That is why this unprecedented incident is being taken extremely seriously.”