Countless books and magazine articles have been written about Princess Diana — most of which rely on the accounts of anonymous sources or third parties, not those who were close to her.
However, the late princess‘s brother, Charles Spencer, is ready to set the record straight in a new book about his late sister, the first time he’s written extensively about her.
That book — “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” — promises to provide “the most intimate, loving and honest portrait yet of his sister,” per publisher Penguin Random House.
‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister’
In a press release issued by Penguin Random House, the 9th Earl of Spencer explains why he felt the need to share Diana’s story from his perspective.
“With the 30th anniversary of Diana’s tragic death on the skyline, I’ve been inundated yet again with requests for interviews about my sister,” he says.
According to Spencer, that sad occasion offers an opportunity to dispel the various rumors and made-up “facts” that many people assume to be true.
“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 explains.
A Brother’s Perspective
‘The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral,” he continues.
In 1997, Spencer delivered a heartfelt and devastating eulogy at Diana’s funeral in Westminster Abbey, sharing his grief in what’s considered to be one of the most memorable public addresses of the 20th century.
“As with my eulogy, I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way,” Spencer adds.
“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 states.
“This is a book I’ve been invited to write repeatedly, since the actual day of Diana’s funeral,” Spencer concludes. “Now is the time for me to finally put it down on the page.”
‘A Fitting Tribute’
Photo by Terry Fincher/Princess Diana Archive/Getty ImagesAccording to the book’s publisher, Daniel Bunyard, Spencer’s upcoming book is far more than just another royal biography.
“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,” Bunyard points out.
“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,” he adds. “For the first time, but also for all time, readers will find here a fitting tribute to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.”
“Swan Song: My Sister, Diana,” will arrive in bookstores on September 22.
