Princess Diana

Charles, Earl Spencer has announced he has written a new book on the life of his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales. With the 30th anniversary of her tragic death approaching in August 2027, the Earl has recorded his personal feelings on paper for the first time.

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, set for hardback release next month on September 22, charts Diana's ups and downs from a brother’s perspective. The description of the book reads: "In September 1997, Charles Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey before a watching world and shared his grief at losing his beloved sister, Diana, in a eulogy that was judged to be one of the great speeches of the twentieth century. Now, nearly thirty years later, he tells the astonishing story of his life with Diana and the tragic week of her death."

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Speaking ahead of the release of the book, Earl Spencer said: "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.

"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."

Earl Spencer, already a Sunday Times best-selling author, added: "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. 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."

The book's publisher, Daniel Bunyard, added: "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 a loving brother, acclaimed memoirist, and 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.

"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."

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is set for UK hardback release on September 22, 2026.