Earl Spencer to tell story of Diana’s life and death in new book
Earl Spencer to tell story of Diana’s life and death in new book
India McTaggartTue, August 18, 2026 at 1:17 PM UTC
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Earl Spencer said the aim of the book was ‘to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective’ - Andrew Crowley
Earl Spencer will publish a book about his sister Diana, Princess of Wales, to mark the 30th anniversary of her death.
The memoir, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is set to be released next month and is expected to cover the Princess’s childhood, her unhappy marriage to the then-Prince of Wales and the aftermath of her death in a car crash in Paris on Aug 31, 1997.
Lord Spencer, Diana’s younger brother, said the aim of the book was “to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral”.
In September 1997, Lord Spencer delivered a eulogy at the funeral of his sister in Westminster Abbey that was later named one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century.
The Earl said he decided to write a memoir about his sister after being ‘inundated’ with requests for interviews to mark the three decades since the Princess’s death - Mark Cuthbert/Getty Images
He has described the new book as a continuation of his tribute nearly 30 years ago, explaining: “As with my eulogy, I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way.
“I hope this book will be of interest to the many who still cherish the memory of Diana when she was alive, and I would be delighted if those too young to remember her in her heyday feel – after reading this – that they ‘get’ who she really was: a one-off, dynamic character, full of love, charisma and self-doubt, who gave life a hell of a go, and left the world a far better place, despite exiting the stage while still so young,” he added.
Lord Spencer said he decided to write a memoir about his sister after being “inundated” with requests for interviews to mark the three decades since her death.
“This has convinced me to write down my own thoughts and memories, once and for all, rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others, many of which are based on untruths that have become accepted over time,” he said.
The book, which will be published around the world and translated into 12 languages, is also expected to provide an insider’s account of how the Royal family dealt with the public’s grief and anger following the Princess’s death.
In his own memoir, the Duke of Sussex claimed that there was a heated behind-the-scenes debate about whether he and the then-Prince William should walk behind his mother’s coffin at her funeral.
The Duke revealed in his book Spare that Lord Spencer objected vocally to the idea of the two young princes following the funeral cortège, describing it as “a barbarity” at the time.
However, he said that when an alternative plan was suggested of having Prince William, then aged 15, walk alone behind the coffin the Duke objected – saying he did not want his brother to undergo the ordeal on his own.
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The Duke claimed that his uncle “flew into a rage” about the difficult decision, saying: “You cannot force these children to walk behind their mother’s coffin. It’s a barbarity!”
The Princess with her brother in 1968 - PA
Last year, Lord Spencer said he found it “difficult” when strangers recount where they were when his sister died.
He made the comments while discussing how he becomes “fundamentally unhappy” on the anniversary of the Princess’s death.
Speaking to Gyles Brandreth on the author’s podcast, Rosebud, he said: “I tell you what I do find quite difficult… it probably sounds ungracious but occasionally total strangers come up and feel they must tell me where they were when they heard she died.
“I’m sure that’s helpful to them, it’s not entirely helpful to everyone else.”
He went on to give an example of an American woman, whom he said “clutched me to her ample bosom and said that I may have thought I grew up with Diana, but actually she did in South Dakota”.
Lord Spencer added: “You just have to smile, it doesn’t matter.”
His new book is set to be published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph, a division of Penguin Random House, on Sept 22.
Swan Song features a black-and-white photograph of Diana on its cover.
Daniel Bunyard, the publisher, who acquired the World All Language rights for the book, said: “This is a book of historic importance, telling as it does the story of one of the twentieth century’s most iconic and culturally significant figures, but it is also utterly unique in being written by Earl Spencer, from a vantage point of such intimacy.
“Charles Spencer is both a loving brother and an acclaimed memoirist as well as a celebrated historian, and all these facets are brought together in Swan Song.
“It is extraordinarily moving, beautifully written and remarkably candid, in no small part due to Charles’s rare ability to access great emotional depth without sentimentality, honest observation without rancour, and warmth without gloss,” Mr Bunyard added.
“While these pages contain many revelations that will draw considerable attention, readers will find, for the first time, but also for all time, a fitting tribute to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.”
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
