Princess Diana’s Brother Reopens a Painful Chapter With New Memoir
LONDON, United Kingdom — September 22, 2026

Nearly three decades after Princess Diana’s death, her younger brother Charles Spencer has reopened one of the most closely watched chapters of Britain’s royal history with the publication of a new memoir about his sister.

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister was published Tuesday, with excerpts from the book already generating intense international attention.

Spencer, who delivered the famous eulogy at Diana’s funeral in 1997, says he wrote the memoir as an eyewitness to his sister’s life and death.

Claims About the Hours After Diana’s Death
Among the most controversial passages are Spencer’s recollections of conversations with King Charles following Diana’s death in Paris in August 1997.

Spencer claims that Charles sounded unusually upbeat when speaking to him after Diana’s death. Reuters reported that Spencer described the reaction in his book as sounding “giddily elated,” a characterization attributed to Spencer’s recollection.

The memoir also contains Spencer’s account of a disagreement over whether Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, should walk behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral.

These claims are Spencer’s personal recollections and are disputed by Buckingham Palace.

Buckingham Palace Responds
The Palace issued an unusually direct response before the book’s publication.

It said King Charles was mindful that grief between family members could affect memory and judgment, and questioned Spencer’s recollection of events many years after Diana’s death.

Spencer has rejected the suggestion that his memories are unreliable and continues to stand by his account.

Diana’s Lasting Public Interest
Diana died in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997, at the age of 36.

Her death triggered an extraordinary public response in Britain and around the world. Millions watched her funeral, while her sons William and Harry later became two of the most recognizable members of the royal family.

Spencer’s new memoir has once again placed Diana’s personal life and her relationship with the royal family at the center of international media coverage.

Reuters reported that the book quickly attracted strong interest from British readers, reaching the top of Amazon’s UK bestseller list around its release.

A Story Still Drawing Global Attention
Almost 30 years after Diana’s death, her life continues to generate books, documentaries and public debate.

Spencer’s memoir adds another personal account to the historical record, while the Palace’s response highlights the disagreement over how events from the 1990s should be remembered.

For readers, one of the central questions surrounding the book remains the same: how much of the story can be independently established, and how much reflects one man’s memory of events that happened decades ago?

Sources: Reuters; The Straits Times; BBC reporting cited in coverage.