Charles Spencer once said that walking behind his late sister Princess Diana’s coffin at her funeral was the “most horrifying half hour of my life”.
He also revealed he raised objections to his nephews princes William and Harry, then 15 and 12, being in the funeral procession, before being assured by the palace that they wanted to do it – something he later discovered was untrue.
It’s these details and more that Diana’s brother is expected to revisit in his upcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which will be released on September 22, almost 30 years after his sister’s passing, after she was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1977.
IN MEMORY OF DIANA
The tome promises to revisit the “Beautiful. Beloved. Hunted” princesses’ extraordinary life and death, written by one of the people who knew her best.
The publisher Penguin’s website, reads, “In childhood, Charles and Diana, the youngest Spencers, were inseparable – secretly calling one another Duch and Carlos. As each other’s closest confidantes, they roamed the family estate, endured extremely challenging boarding schools, survived terrifying nannies and helped each other through the agony of their parents’ divorce.
“Yet everything changed when Diana married the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, and overnight became a global icon. Charles saw his older sister serve the world’s marginalized and relish being mother to her treasured sons.
“But, pursued by a barbaric press as her royal marriage crumbled, she was left desperately alone. Charles always tried to be there for Diana – until that black night in August, 1997.”
FAMILT RIFT
And with rumours growing that Charles has been helping “fund” the Sussexes move to the UK, coupled with the upcoming release of this book, royal insiders fear it could reignite an age-old feud between the Earl and his former brother-in-law King Charles, with Prince William caught in the middle.
“The King is indeed bracing for the worst in regard to Earl Spencer’s book. Everyone knows from [Harry’s book] Spare that there was a big argument during the week of Diana’s funeral over whether or not the boys should be expected to walk behind her coffin – Charlie thought it was a ‘barbarity’,” reveals a source.
“This book is Charlie’s unfiltered version of events and the palace has no say over the content. For a King who values careful messaging, an emotionally charged memoir from his late wife’s brother puts him in an unpredictable situation.
Indeed, it’s believed there will never be any love lost between the King and the Earl, not after his brutal eulogy at Diana’s funeral, which firmly took aim at the press and the palace’s role in her untimely death. In the years following Diana’s death, Earl Spencer, who was named by Diana in her will as her children’s guardian, accused the royals of cutting ties with him and trying to limit contact between the princes and Diana’s family.
“What I can say is that they may not be encouraged to stay in touch with their mother’s side of the family,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian in 2012.
A spokesman for St James’s Palace declined to comment, saying: “We consider that to be a private family matter.”
But now the family “feud” may be reignited as are questions over how Harry and Meghan can afford their own residence while keeping Montecito, “people are pointing the finger at his uncle,” says an insider, revealing that Charles Spencer also offered the couple a residence to stay at, which they reportedly refused.
TIME FOR A TRUCE?
“It’s the only way, but for someone like William, it’s going to feel like he’s taking a side. The truth is that Charles wants his nephews reunited and it’s never going to happen with an ocean between them.
“He’s been pushing for Harry and Meghan to move back to the UK and it’s true he’s done everything he can to make sure they’re as comfortable as possible.
“It could all easily backfire and implode the cold war between the Windsors and the Spencers that’s been festering away since Diana died.”
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