Diana’s Brother Challenges Palace in New Book

In his new book, Charles Spencer describes his sister Diana’s life, her unhappy marriage to the now King Charles and the events following her death. Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is due to be published on Tuesday.

Excerpts released in advance have caused tensions with Buckingham Palace. Spencer claims Charles was “giddily elated” after Diana’s death in 1997 and said “we'll forget her soon enough”. He also writes that Charles shouted at him after Spencer argued that 15-year-old William and 12-year-old Harry should not be expected to walk behind their mother’s coffin.

Buckingham Palace rejected Spencer’s account in unusually strong terms: “The pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory.” Spencer called the response “astonishingly provocative and below the belt”, saying it effectively accused him of lying without refuting his specific claims.

Spencer said he wrote the book out of a sense of duty “as an eyewitness to history”. He also expressed regret that he did not fully understand how difficult Diana’s marriage had been for her or do more to help.

Diana married Charles in 1981 and they divorced in 1996. A year later, she was killed aged 36 in a car crash in Paris. At her funeral, Spencer said Diana’s “blood family” would protect her sons, remarks that caused discomfort within the royal family.

(Reuters, bak)