Earl Spencer vowed to never make money from his sister Diana’s death, saying in a 1998 interview, “can you imagine anybody making a profit out of their brother or sister’s death? I mean it’s so low it’s inconceivable…”
Despite that, publishing sources reveal he landed an advance of up to $2 million for his memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister with experts estimating he could make up to $20 million if it’s popular in the US.
As critics brand him a hypocrite and claim he’s motivated by a “simmering rage and resentment of King Charles and the Royal Family”, the controversial Earl claims he wrote the book to correct “untruths” and that it “is a brother’s simple tribute to an extraordinary sister… “She would, I reckon, have approved of every word.”
Here Woman’s Day takes a look at why his account has the palace raging…
CHARLES “GIDDY” OVER DI’S DEATH
Fiction
Earl Spencer backtracked on one of his most sensational claims, that King Charles was “giddily elated” when discussing funeral plans following her car crash death in 1997.
BBC journalist Laura Kuenssberg questioned the Earl, 62, about the allegation, to which Charles admitted: “I felt there was that sort of giddy tone… I cannot be sure. I’m saying that’s what I assume from the tone is a possibility, and that’s all that I can do.”
Royal commentator Victoria Arbiter questions his account: “The King went against his own mother, the Queen, to insist he fly to Paris, and commandeered a royal plane… And [his] face! My gosh, the grief that was just etched on his face.”
1993 DIANA PHOTO SCANDAL!
Fiction
Former tabloid editor Piers Morgan is threatening to sue Charles Spencer over “fabricated inaccuracise” and “examples of brazen falsity” in the book, which claims Piers was involved in the publication of photographs of Princess Diana working out in a leotard, taken by an allegedly hidden camera in a gym in 1993.
But, the images were published two years before he was editor at Daily Mirror. Apologising for the inaccuracy, Charles still stands by his account which recalls a conversation when he told Piers he wasn’t welcome at Diana’s funeral, because he assumed he was responsible for the photos.
DI’S ATTACK ON STEP-MOTHER
Fact
Princess Diana’s dislike for her step-mother Raine Spencer has been well-documented with Diana revealing in secret audio tapes that she told Raine, “I hate you so much. If only you knew how much we all hate you.”
Tensions reached boiling point on the eve of Charles Spencer’s wedding in 1989 when Raine relegated Diana’s mother to another room and insulted Diana by saying she felt sorry for Prince Charles for marrying someone “so stupid”, at which point the earl says, Diana pushed Raine down the stairs.
Despite years of fighting, the women reconciled a year before Di’s death.
ROYALS REFUSED FROGMORE BURIAL PLOT
Fiction
Victoria Arbiter has called into question the validity of some of Earl Spencer’s claims, including that because Diana lost her HRH title when she divorced Charles, that she wasn’t eligible to be buried at the royal grounds of Frogmore in Windsor.
“There’s two points on that. First of all, the Queen [Queen Elizabeth] had suggested she should be. So, she had the Queen’s permission, and the Queen had wanted her to be buried at Frogmore,” Victoria told nine.com.au. “But also, Wallis Simpson is buried at Frogmore. Wallis Simpson didn’t have HRH status. So, straight away, that’s inaccurate.”
CHARLES CALLED HER CHUBBY, DIDN’T LOVE HER
Fact
She famously called her wedding day the “worst day of my life” so claims Diana wanted to call off her engagement to Prince Charles, ring true.
In his memoir, Charles says on the night before their July 29, 1981 wedding, Prince Charles allegedly told Di he was happy to marry her but he entered the marriage “with his heart elsewhere”.
He also alleges Diana’s struggles with bullimia were exacerrbated by Charles – something Diana also said in tapes to Andrew Morton in 1992. “Her insecurity was increased a few days after the engagement announcement when Prince Charles had squeezed her waist and said, ‘Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?’,” Earl Spencer recounts.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Share this post