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Charles Spencer, 62, appeared on the British TV show Lorraine on Wednesday, Sept. 23, to discuss his book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
During the interview, he explained that he is not allowing the criticism to faze him, while also crediting his wife, Cat Jarman, for her support
Spencer also reflected on Prince Harry’s family visit to Althorp House in the summer and said how Diana would have been a “great grandmother”
Charles Spencer is sharing new insight into Prince Harry and Meghan Markle‘s summer stay at Althorp House with their children — and reflecting on the grandmother his sister Princess Diana never got the chance to be.
The 9th Earl Spencer, 62, spoke about the family’s July visit to his ancestral home during an appearance on the British talk show Lorraine on Wednesday, Sept. 23, while discussing his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.
“Harry came to stay in the summer with his family, and that was lovely,” Spencer said, offering a rare glimpse into the private visit. “Although when I look, you know, it’s so sad. I saw the two little kids running around, and the sadness of not having… Can you imagine what a great-grandmother Diana would’ve been? Spoiling them rotten.”
Princess Lilibet and Prince Archie with Prince Harry at Althorp in July 2026
Credit: Meghan Markle/Instagram
Spencer sat down with PEOPLE to discuss the bombshell memoir in this week’s exclusive cover story. He said he told Harry, 42, and his older brother, Prince William, 44, about the book at “exactly” the same time, along with his and Diana’s older sisters, Lady Sarah, 71, and Lady Jane, 69.
Charles Spencer on the grounds of Althorp, his and Princess Diana’s childhood ancestral home, on Sept. 16, 2026
Credit: Matt Holyoak
“I told them at the same time, and all I would say is one was… So all four of them [William and Harry and Sarah and Jane], I told them exactly the same time. And I can say that Harry is completely fine about it,” Spencer recounted.
“He said, I hope there’s nothing embarrassing about him in it,” he continued. “I said, ‘There isn’t.’ “
“I think it’s natural that people so in the public eye are concerned how they will come across in the book. But I could reassure both of them that they’re of course in the book, but really as examples of two little boys who had the most exceptional mother, I’m not in any way compromising their privacy at all.”
Prince Harry and Prince William attend the unveiling of a statue of their late mother, Princess Diana, at The Sunken Garden in Kensington Palace on July 1, 2021
Credit: DOMINIC LIPINSKI/POOL/AFP via Getty
Spencer told PEOPLE that he defended the book to family members as a “pure celebration” of Diana’s life and legacy.
On Lorraine, he added that he “stands by” the book, and is weathering the criticism he’s received with the help and support of his wife, professor Cat Spencer.
“It hasn’t rattled me at all. I’m married to a very fabulous woman; she’s Norwegian and very direct,” he said. “And every time we’ve heard of another crashing tsunami of criticism, she just goes, ‘You’re right, they’re wrong, and Diana would be proud.’ And that’s it.”
Charles Spencer poses beneath a portrait of his late sister, Princess Diana, at Althorp, their childhood ancestral home, on Sept. 16, 2026
Credit: Matt Holyoak
Piers Morgan threatened legal action on Monday, Sept. 21, against Spencer over alleged “demonstrable lies” about him in the book, per an X statement, which Spencer has since apologized for — though he stands by his account of their phone call soon after Diana’s death.
Host Lorraine Kelly asked him about the allegations from Morgan, to which he replied, “I’m very happy to acknowledge I made a small error, and I’ve apologized, and it will be put right in the second edition. But that’s it.”
Spencer also doubled down on the claims the book makes about King Charles. “I wasn’t setting out to do a hit piece on the king at all. The bits that have been included in the book are totally in context,” he said.
He cited the example of claiming Charles said, “We’ll forget her soon enough,” about his sister following her death at the age of 36.
“So that clip you played of me getting through the end of [Diana’s] eulogy, I end with this thing that the final thought I give is that Diana will never be extinguished from our mind,” Spencer said on the show.
“That was a direct counter to the King saying, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough.’ So it had to be included, because the strand through the book is: how did this eulogy come about? I use that as a device to look at Diana’s life. So if I didn’t put in the reason, you wouldn’t have the consequence.”
‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,’ by Charles Spencer
Credit: Penguin
A spokesperson for Buckingham Palace released a rare statement on Monday after an excerpt of Swan Song was published in the Daily Mail.
“While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, 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 read.
Spencer told Kelly during the interview that it was “impossible” to give the full story of Diana’s life without “putting certain things” in context.
“This is not a threat at all because I’m not going to do it,” he said. “I know if I wanted to write a hit piece on the royal family, I could do that. That’s not my job. My job in this book was to celebrate Diana.”
Princess Diana with her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry in 1995
Credit: Anwar Hussein/WireImage
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During his interview with PEOPLE, Spencer said: “This book, in my view, is something she would like. She always loved it when I paid compliments, and this is 350 pages of compliments.”
What’s more, he added, “I think this does give me the opportunity to lay certain myths to rest.”He explained that the book is a “celebration from a brother’s point of view of this magnificent life of this extraordinary woman.”
Read the original article on People