New book by Princess Diana's brother prompts war of words with King
Charles III
[September 22, 2026]
By SYLVIA HUI
LONDON (AP) — A new book published Tuesday by the brother of the late
Princess Diana has made headlines around the world with its damning
allegations about Diana's ex-husband, now King Charles III, and reopened
decades-old wounds within Britain's royal family.
In “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” Charles Spencer alleges that he argued
with the then-Prince Charles over palace plans for Prince William and
Prince Harry, then 15 and 12, to walk behind their mother's coffin
during her 1997 funeral procession.
Spencer says he told Charles that Diana, who was killed in a car crash
in Paris at the age of 36, would not have wanted her boys to undergo the
ordeal. He claims the prince “went ballistic” during the argument, and
told him: "Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough." Spencer also
accuses Charles of having “contempt” for his ex-wife and of sounding
“elated” after her death.
After excerpts of the book were published last week, Buckingham Palace
responded with a strongly-worded statement that's rare by the measured
standards of the royal household.
“His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud
reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not
recognize, even many years after such a loss,” it said.
Spencer has stood by his claims, insisting to the BBC that he is telling
the truth. On the royal rebuttal, he asked: “Is he furious? Is he
furious or is he embarrassed?”
War of words draws renewed attention to Charles and Diana's stormy
history
Charles, then 32, married 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer in a lavish
ceremony at St. Paul’s Cathedral in 1981. The couple divorced in 1996,
and a decade later Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, now Queen
Camilla.
Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, has long clashed with the royals
over their treatment of his older sister.
Tensions between the palace and the Spencer family following her death
were dramatized in the film “The Queen” and the Netflix series "The
Crown."
In a searing eulogy at his sister’s funeral, Spencer vowed that her
“blood family” would carry on her “imaginative and loving” legacy in
raising her two sons. The speech was widely considered a swipe at the
royal family.
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A man holds a copy of the new book by Earl Spencer, brother of the
late Princess Diana, entitled "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," outside
a bookshop in central London, Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin
Cheung)
 At the time, many in Britain and
beyond felt Queen Elizabeth II and the royals were too slow to
acknowledge the global outpouring of grief over Diana's death and
that the monarchy was deeply out of touch with the public mood.
Charles Spencer says press treatment of Harry echoes that of his
mother
The royals have spent decades putting that period of crisis behind
them. The warmer, more personable approach of William and Harry —
and, in recent years, the king — is a legacy of that time.
In his book, Spencer also criticized the royals for what he
described as a “lack of obvious care” for the then 12-year-old
Harry.
He recounted how “tiny, and slight, and bereft” his nephew looked
after the funeral. “He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they
would forever be denied him,” he wrote. “But instead of calm and
nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control.”
Some critics have questioned why Spencer felt the need to revisit
the pain and trauma 30 years on.
The aristocrat said he wanted to write down his own thoughts and
memories about Diana, “once and for all, rather than having the
discomfort of again reading the opinions of others, many of which
are based on untruths.”
Asked if the relationship between the press and Harry and his wife,
Meghan, mirrors the way the media treated his sister, Spencer told
the BBC: “(Diana) was really brought low by all that criticism. I
suppose it's a pity when I see echoes of that now.”
Penguin Press said the book will be published globally and
translated into 12 languages.
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