We learned on Tuesday that Charles, the Earl Spencer, has written a book about his sister, Princess Diana. Charles Spencer has been a published author for years, of both fiction and nonfiction. His most recent book was A Very Private School, published in 2024. It was a memoir about the abuse he suffered at boarding school, and that one made a lot of news. There was a big discourse in the British media for months about the British boarding school system and how abuses are often swept under the rug.

Well, I think the Earl Spencer’s Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is going to be huge. I think it will probably be the biggest deal since Prince Harry’s Spare. Charles Spencer and Diana were alike in temperament, meaning they had moments where they were super-close siblings and other moments when they had fiery fallings out. But my point is that Charles Spencer was around for all of Diana’s adult life and she confided in him and leaned on him a lot, especially after her marriage fell apart. Those are the sections I cannot wait to read: everything in the 1990s, basically. The Earl Spencer’s publisher seems to know that the book is going to scandalize some people (meaning, the Windsors). You can tell they’re stressing because they’re already devoting stories to how the book is half-price:

Earl Charles Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about Princess Diana is already available at half its cover price, more than five weeks ahead of its official release. The hardback edition of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister can be pre-ordered on TGJones with a 50 per cent introductory discount, bringing the cost down to £14 from a recommended retail price of £28.

The book is due out on September 22 2026, yet the deal means readers can secure their copy now at a significant saving.

It represents the first occasion on which Diana’s brother has written at length about the princess, offering previously unshared recollections of one of the most recognisable and culturally important figures of the last century.

Earl Spencer’s memoir is being published by Penguin Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House, with Daniel Bunyard as publisher. World All Language rights were secured from Caroline Michel at PFD, while Penguin Press will handle the American edition. The title will also be translated into 12 languages for a worldwide release.

Publisher Daniel Bunyard described the memoir as “a book of historic importance” while emphasising its singular perspective.

“Charles Spencer is both a loving brother and an acclaimed memoirist as well as a celebrated historian, and all these facets are brought together in Swan Song,” he said.

Mr Bunyard praised Earl Spencer’s distinctive voice, noting his “rare ability to access great emotional depth without sentimentality, honest observation without rancour, and warmth without gloss.” Though the publisher acknowledged that the pages contain “many revelations that will draw considerable attention,” he stressed that readers would ultimately discover “for the first time, but also for all time, a fitting tribute to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.”

[From GB News]

“Though the publisher acknowledged that the pages contain ‘many revelations that will draw considerable attention’….” I’ll bet. Before Diana’s butler Paul Burrell lost his mind and started doing anything to make some cash, he told a story which still haunts me – that just days after Diana’s death, her mother Frances Shand Kydd burned a lot of Diana’s documents and letters. I believe that, just as I believe that the Windsors and the security services probably got first dibs on all of Diana’s papers, especially the stuff she kept at Kensington Palace. My point? Diana’s own historical record, in her own words, has steadily dwindled since the day she died. The Earl Spencer has spent years trying to protect her memory, but it’s time for him to actually write down what he knows and what he remembers. Diana’s story cannot continue to be written and manipulated by the Windsors and their media stenographers.

Also: since the news about Swan Song came out, I’ve been monitoring the British press to see if and when the royal sh-t hits the fan. So far, the palace is staying quiet, but that’s probably more about the left-behinds’ Balmoral vacation. I suspect that we’ll get some royal pushback on Charles Spencer within the next week. Remember how King Charles was completely freaked out about The Crown? Yeah. He and Camilla will be quite concerned.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.