Memoir by Diana’s brother goes on sale after rocking UK monarchy

Charles Spencer’s book about his late sister Princess Diana, packed with explosive revelations concerning King Charles III that have rocked Britain’s monarchy in recent days, went on sale Tuesday. “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister”, a memoir written by Diana’s younger brother, has been published by Penguin in various English-speaking countries and translated into 12 languages for wider release. Billed as chronicling her life from his perspective, Spencer’s 384-page book comes almost three decades after Diana was killed in a 1997 car crash in Paris.

Extracts serialised in the British tabloid the Daily Mail last week have triggered sensational headlines around revelations involving her ex-husband, and now King Charles III. Charles issued a rare rebuttal after Spencer wrote that the then Prince of Wales told him in a phone call shortly after Diana’s death: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” Spencer also claimed Charles had “sounded giddily elated, like a lottery winner” at the news of her demise. “I’m looking forward to reading it,” self-described Diana fan Mary Scheible, 69, from the United States, told AFP as she bought a copy from a bookshop while visiting London.

“What I’ve seen are sentences taken maybe out of context. So I want to read the book to get the full story and then make my opinion.” Spencer, 62, who has worked as a US television journalist, has said he wrote the memoir to correct “untruths that have become accepted over time”. “Diana would be cheering from the rafters at this book,” he told the Mail on Sunday.

– ‘Gaslit’ – English copies went on sale in countries including Britain, the US, Canada and Australia, with other countries such as Germany, Brazil and Spain getting translated versions. Despite the recent publicity, the book only sat in 12th in Amazon UK’s non-fiction bestseller list Tuesday. Diana’s death, aged just 36, sparked an outpouring of grief in Britain and beyond for the woman dubbed “the people’s princess”.

And it triggered accusations that the then monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, failed to respond swiftly with empathy and understanding. Spencer told the BBC that Charles “went ballistic” after he insisted Diana would not have wanted her sons, princes William and Harry, to walk behind her coffin in her funeral procession. They were then aged 15 and 12, respectively.

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson last week issued a rare re… LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP)—Charles Spencer's book about his late sister Princess Diana, packed with explosive revelations concerning King Charles III that have rocked Britain's monarchy in recent days, went on sale Tuesday.