{"id":608583,"date":"2026-09-22T22:20:16","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/608583\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T22:20:16","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T22:20:16","slug":"royal-rift-dianas-brothers-new-book-sparks-spat-with-king-charles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/608583\/","title":{"rendered":"Royal rift: Diana’s brother’s new book sparks spat with King Charles"},"content":{"rendered":"

A book published 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<\/a>, and reopened decades-old wounds within Britain’s royal family.<\/p>\n

In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Charles Spencer alleges that he argued with the then-Prince Charles<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left: Britain’s Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles walk outside Westminster Abbey during the funeral procession for Diana. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Spencer says he told Charles that Diana, who was killed in a car crash in Paris<\/a> at the age of 36, would not have wanted her boys to undergo the ordeal. He claims the prince \u201cwent ballistic\u201d during the argument, and told him: “Rest assured, we\u2019ll forget her soon enough<\/a>.” Spencer also accuses Charles of having \u201ccontempt\u201d for his ex-wife and of sounding \u201celated\u201d after her death.<\/p>\n

After excerpts of the book were published last week<\/a>, Buckingham Palace responded with a strongly worded statement that’s rare by the measured standards of the royal household.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A man holds a copy of the new book by Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana, entitled “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,”. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

“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,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

Spencer has stood by his claims, insisting to the BBC that he is telling the truth. On the royal rebuttal, he asked: \u201cIs he furious or is he embarrassed?\u201d<\/p>\n

War of words draws renewed attention to Charles and Diana\u2019s stormy history<\/p>\n

Charles, then 32, married 20-year-old Lady Diana Spencer<\/a> in a lavish ceremony at St. Paul\u2019s Cathedral in 1981<\/a>. The couple divorced in 1996<\/a>, and a decade later Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles, now Queen Camilla.<\/p>\n

Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, has long clashed with the royals<\/a> over their treatment of his older sister.<\/p>\n

Tensions between the palace and the Spencer family following her death were dramatised in the film The Queen and the Netflix series The Crown<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Diana,<\/p>\n

Diana, Princess of Wales waves to the crowd as she leaves the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute in Sydney Australia. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In a searing eulogy at his sister\u2019s 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 royals.<\/p>\n

At the time, many in Britain and beyond felt Queen Elizabeth II and her kin were too slow to acknowledge the global outpouring of grief over Diana\u2019s death and that the monarchy was deeply out of touch with the public mood.<\/p>\n

Diana tried to break off engagement to Charles and back out of wedding<\/p>\n

After days of news stories that pitted one Charles against another, the book landed in shops with a new offering of salacious allegations.<\/p>\n

Spencer says his sister tried to break off her engagement after discovering Prince Charles had bought a bracelet for Camilla. She also tried to back out of the wedding, telling her father it was clear Charles didn\u2019t love her.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince Charles and Princess Diana ride in an open carriage from St. Paul’s Cathedral to Buckingham Palace, following their wedding on July 29, 1981 in London, England (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n

“My father was appalled and said it was impossible to pull out of such an enormous commitment at that point,” Spencer wrote.<\/p>\n

Diana had suicidal thoughts and more than once drove to the famous chalk cliffs at Beachy Head on the south coast of England and considered “ending it all,” her brother said.<\/p>\n

Spencer, like his nephew Prince Harry, holds the press responsible for the car crash that killed Diana, saying the paparazzi were the “leading cause of her death.”<\/p>\n

‘Swan Song’ is in ample supply and offered at half price<\/p>\n

The book was prominently displayed in windows and stacked on tables in London bookshops. The \u00a328 (NZ$65) hardback was offered at half price in some shops and early sales were not brisk.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A member of staff put out copies of the new book by Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana, entitled “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,”. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Mary Scheible, a retired pharmacist visiting from Atlanta, said she couldn\u2019t wait to get back to her hotel to start reading it.<\/p>\n

Scheible was married the same year as Diana and Charles and has always been fascinated with the princess\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

“I wanted to see her brother\u2019s side of the story and what he had to say,” Scheible said. “I’d really like to read the book in its entirety and see if what\u2019s being said is really what he\u2019s trying to convey in the book or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Telegraph gave the book a two-star review (out of five) and called it a “monument” to Spencer’s ego and not a book about his sister.<\/p>\n

The Times of London said it went beyond defending Diana to launch a “Shakespearean blood feud between two aristocratic houses \u2014 a Montague-versus-Capulet drama played out in Barbour jackets and tweed where an ‘ancient grudge’ becomes ‘new mutiny’.”<\/p>\n

After broadcaster Piers Morgan threatened to sue over allegations of what he called “examples of brazen falsity,” Spencer apologised for getting at least one of his facts wrong. But he reiterated that Morgan was surly when Spencer told him he was not welcome at his sister’s funeral.<\/p>\n

Morgan said he still planned to sue to have the “lies” removed from the book.<\/p>\n

Charles Spencer says press treatment of Harry echoes that of his mother<\/p>\n

The royals have spent decades putting that period of crisis behind them. The warmer, more personable approach of William and Harry \u2014 and, in recent years, the king \u2014 is a legacy of that time.<\/p>\n

\"Prince<\/p>\n

Prince Harry, and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, arrive for an event, during a visit to Bondi Beach, Australia, April 17, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n

In his book, Spencer also criticised the royals for what he described as a “lack of obvious care” for the then 12-year-old Harry<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He recounted how “tiny, and slight, and bereft” his nephew looked after the funeral. “He needed Diana\u2019s 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.”<\/p>\n

Some critics have questioned why Spencer felt the need to revisit the pain and trauma 30 years on.<\/p>\n

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.”<\/p>\n

Asked if the relationship between the press and Harry and his wife, Meghan, mirrors the way the media treated his sister<\/a>, 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.”<\/p>\n

Penguin Press said the book will be published globally and translated into 12 languages.<\/p>\n

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including the Taxpayers Union fires back at Nicky Hager, and Liam Lawson’s job change. (Source: Breakfast)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A book published by the brother of the late Princess Diana has made headlines around the world with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608584,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[2567,156,111,139,69,6747,1745],"class_list":["post-608583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-arts-and-culture","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-royalty","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608583","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608583"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608583\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608584"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608583"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608583"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608583"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}