Friday afternoon, the Daily Mail released their second big chunk of their Swan Song serialization. This section is entirely Charles Spencer’s recollections of Diana’s funeral, from meeting up with then-Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Prince William and Prince Philip, all the way to the burial at Althorp. Spencer would have had every right to make this section about his stunning eulogy at Westminster Abbey, but he did not. Instead, he draws on his recollections of the walk behind Diana’s casket, his concerns for his nephews, and he continues to document then-Prince Charles’ behavior throughout this period of time. Spencer writes that Prince Charles couldn’t contain his jubilation at Diana’s death, nor could he stop predicting that everyone would soon forget Diana. Then Prince Charles wanted to hijack Diana’s funeral and put himself front and center. From Swan Song, via the Mail:
Before the walk behind Diana’s casket: Prince Philip was there, his usual gruffness replaced by a calm and quiet kindness. He was clearly determined to help his motherless grandsons in their walk to the funeral, and he did so with grace. Prince Charles tried to take charge, having seemingly thought hard about the formation that the five of us chief mourners would adopt behind Diana. When he said, ‘Now, I will walk in the centre, with William on my right and Harry on my left’, Prince Philip overruled him, in an even voice that closed down any possible dissent. ‘No, that isn’t how we will do it,’ he said. Then, nodding towards me, he continued: ‘Charles is representing his sister and their family, so he will walk in the middle, with William and Harry either side of him, and you and I will be on the outside flanks.’ Prince Charles looked pained but capitulated to his father’s authority without a word.
The motherless sons: I was struck by the ghastly beauty of it all. White flowers were laid out on the coffin – lilies from my family and me, with a bouquet up front that particularly drew the eye. It showed the agonising word ‘Mummy’ on its card, in a young hand. That, for me, remains the searing image of the day: a son’s silent, written cry of desolation, to a mother, gone.
Spencer’s thoughts were on Harry: I could not get over how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked. Too small to be doing this, I thought, and wondered how on earth this heartbroken child could bear the ordeal of that moment, or how he could possibly be expected to deal with the agony that the day ahead would insist upon. William, although doubtless suffering equally terribly, looked more self-possessed. He was the image of his mother then: tall and handsome and dignified. Although I cared deeply about what he must be going through, his greater composure and maturity made him my secondary concern that morning.
Spencer continued to wonder why Prince Charles was there: What was Prince Charles actually doing there? I thought at one moment. This ex-husband, from a marriage that had collapsed so bitterly four years before and finally ended in divorce a year earlier, surely had no place at his ex’s funeral. Supporting his sons was the reason given for his prominent place, but what were the boys doing there, anyway? It all seemed mad to me.
Spencer kept checking on Harry: I was anxious that I could not look sideways to check how Harry was doing. But at one point I found us marching briefly out of sight, under a massive arch. Relieved that nobody could see us here, I quickly leant across to Harry, and gave him an encouraging hug. ‘Well done, Harry!’ I said. ‘You’re doing bloody brilliantly!’
The presence of the Windsors at Westminster Abbey: Beyond the coffin, in the South Lantern, sat the serried ranks of the Royal Family. I thought how some had supported her in life while others had taken delight in the demotion that had followed her divorce. I saw the face of Princess Michael, whom Diana had considered her ‘nightmare neighbour’ at Kensington Palace. She had accosted my sister after she was deprived of her HRH title, and said, with feigned kindness: ‘Don’t worry, Diana – you only need to curtsy to me when we are in public !’ There was Princess Margaret, who had been a good ally of Diana till the Panorama interview had taken place. Margaret could never forgive what she viewed as an unforgivable act of treachery against the Royal Family and had chosen not to bow to Diana’s coffin when it had passed her that morning.
Spencer’s eulogy: When I got to my favourite line in the speech, ‘Perhaps the greatest irony about Diana’s life is this: that a girl given the name of the ancient goddess of hunting was, in the end, the most hunted woman of the modern age’, it was a relief finally to lay out the true horror of Diana’s ordeal, in language that begged to be noticed. I remember registering the surprise in Westminster Abbey when I delivered such a startling thought. But then I felt all those around me settle, as they realised that my accusation was true, and fair, and appalling. How had we all let it happen?
The journey to Althorp: My chief memory of that train journey is of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for Harry, as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning. He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him. But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control. I have often looked back, reckoning that a more caring hand at such points as this would have helped him enormously in the future. Instead, he seemed so very alone in his despair and torment.
What Spencer heard about QEII’s reaction to Diana’s death: When the Queen had heard the first news of Diana’s being in a traffic accident, she had asked tetchily, ‘What is she up to now?’ This, before the seriousness of it all became clear. After Diana’s death the Queen said she wanted Diana’s coffin to be placed in the royal burial ground at Frogmore, near Windsor Castle. But my family was determined that Diana must come home to Althorp. We knew she would have wanted to do so. Besides, having had her HRH title removed as part of the package of humiliation handed to her at her divorce, almost a year to the day before her death, Diana was no longer eligible for royal Frogmore.
Diana’s burial at Althorp: Apart from two members of her household staff and my then-girlfriend Josie, whom Diana had spent time with and liked, we in the funeral party were all related to Diana. So I was surprised to spot a stranger on the island, in a dark suit. He seemed to be part of Prince Charles’s retinue. Trying to be unobtrusive, he looked at me in a fluster before uttering the unforgettable line: ‘Please ignore me – I am a tree!’ He then pushed himself in behind a few straggly fronds hanging down from one of the island’s beeches. He remained there, motionless, having failed quite spectacularly to achieve invisibility. He blinked more than a tree should. Diana was lowered into the ground as the vicar offered his sentences of Christian comfort. Several of us threw in our flowers on top of the coffin. Prince Charles plucked a single stem from my bouquet for Diana and let it drop on his ex-wife’s coffin. How very generous, I thought, angry now on Diana’s behalf, as she began to disappear under the soil.
Princess Michael of Kent and Princess Margaret acting awful… fork found in kitchen. All of those women were fuming with jealousy for years and years. The part about Prince Charles wanting to put himself in the middle is w-i-l-d, as is the fact that Prince Philip was the one to shut it down. It sounds like Philip showed more sympathy and grace towards Charles Spencer than Prince Charles did. The part about Harry… we already heard Harry’s perspective on that terrible day, with absolutely no one looking out for him, no one comforting him, no one sitting with him.
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
The royals are awful. May Fiana be at peace. Hope Harry gets the he’ll out of trauma island.
I remember the moment under the stone arch when Spencer put his arm around Harry’s shoulders. It was brief but long enough for the then-POW to spin like an adder and hiss at the gesture.
And this is why Charles and his supporters are very worried. People over 40 have actual memories of events like this. They match what Spencer is putting in his book.
Hugo Vickers (royalist sycophant) says he reviewed that section of the broadcast and failed to see CS hugging H.
Then Hugo Vickers is lying. I did not only watched the funeral in 1997, I videotaped it and rewatched it. And this small scene was something so human. And I remember that Philip did the same to William. Touched him on the back to say you are doing all right.
And when you say Philip was more understanding: he grew up nearly parent less, although they weren’t dead. So his sisters cared. And he did the same as Earl Spencer following the casket of a beloved sister when he himself still was to young.
People over on r/RoyaltyTea are posting videos of the funeral. Very emotional viewing. This book is really bringing the memory of those days back to life. Chuckles is toast.
I remember seeing it.
It happens at approximately 2:10 here (two HOURS, ten minutes. This is a four hour video)
https://youtu.be/n2ICGs_XA5Q?is=Sa-_K-h3IF1KFwos
I have it at 2:11:44 where you clearly see Spencer put his arm on Harry as they walk under the arch.
These royalists will lie to your face despite evidence otherwise. Let’s never forget that.
CS writes so eloquently. Ghastly C3 wanting it to be all about him.
Charles had some nerve wanting to be in the center after he had rejected diana. Philip put him on his place fortunately. Charles has no shame
Occurs to me that this may be why Charles offered to escort Meghan down the aisle: to join the center of attention, to be seen as a good father & good person with Harry, Meghan, & Doria.
Such a turd.
That is exactly why he did it. Optics, and because of Meghan’s own toxic dog shit father, she was in a position to gratefully accept the offer.
This just reveals what a narcissicist Charles is: wanting to center himself in his ex-wife’s funeral. I doesn’t get more self-serving than that.
It seems that Prince Philip was the only one who could keep Charles even a tiny bit in line.
You know the book is getting people worried when Spencer is being attacked for his personal life after Diana died, as if that negates a brother’s memories of his life with his sister.
They are repeating the playbook they tried against Harry and Meghan.
I know, right? And here’s the thing: the majority of those people who are screeching that “Earl Spencer is profiting from his sister’s memory!” have ALL written books and articles about her, a woman they did not know, and they sure as hell didn’t do this for free, nor are they appearing on television now out of the goodness of their hearts. They are scared that he, like Prince Harry, will rip up the lying narratives they have been spinning about Princess Diana for decades, before and after she died.
They’re attacking him without a trace of irony and with zero shame. How can it be okay for THEM, total strangers, to profit from writing about the life of a woman, but for the woman’s brother, or the woman’s son, to write about her? The “historians” (many of whom have been revealed to be total frauds) and the so-called royal experts all like to pretend that they know more about the royals than the royals and their family members do, and it is being revealed in real time that they do not. But it is also being revealed in real time that some of them really DID know all of these things about Charles and the royal family at the time and helped the palace to sweep them under the rug. They have always been stenographers for the royals, nothing more.
And, as you said, they certainly don’t want the public connecting the dots between the way the palace and press treated Diana and the way they are treating Harry and Meghan, especially Meghan.
I love the way that Earl Spencer has been pointing out that three(?) of his ex-wives are “double divorcées” 😀 . I didn’t even know that. And someone pointed out on Twitter that it’s not true that he remains estranged from his daughters (from his first marriage?), saying that he is a proud grandfather and they are all alright.
But it’s interesting that the royal reporters, the KP/BP bots and the derangers all had the same initial talking points after parroting the palace’s gaslighting statement: needs money, profiting from his sister’s memory, then when that talking point failed/faltered, they all swerved, in formation, to ask “Why now?” and claim that it’s in poor taste to go back down memory lane, before swerving yet again to attack him for having been divorced several times and “having no contact with his children”. Like someone pulling strings from behind the scenes (while claiming to be silent).
Rivetting.
That connection has, unfortunately for KCIII, already been made: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/20/earl-spencer-media-treatment-harry-and-meghan-echoes-diana
I saw a statement from him acknowledging that he’d been divorced three times and saying that he thought he and Diana both had rejection sensitivity dysphoria. He seems very willing to acknowledge his own shortcomings.
Ciotog, unlike Clucky who can’t even acknowledge that his fat fingers should never be anywhere near a fountain pen.
It was in one of the book excerpts, he makes the point that he is not passing judgement on their marriage just recording his memories
My brother had, until the last few years, a very messy private life including some horrible relationships and horrible decisions that lead to a (nonviolent) criminal record. BUT if I were to die today and he were to give my eulogy, not only would it be hilarious but also absolutely 100% true because he is my brother and the only one in the world that shared my childhood, upbringing, and confidence.
How many times Charles S has been divorced has no bearing on his relationship with his sister.
He had the same childhood trauma as Diana. It would be remarkable if he did not have a messy personal life. Ultimately, that is totally irrelevant to his recollections of his sister.
Quite – and as if KC (and the wider BRF for that matter) has been a paragon of virtue!
This: “Prince Charles plucked a single stem from my bouquet for Diana and let it drop on his ex-wife’s coffin. How very generous, I thought, angry now on Diana’s behalf, as she began to disappear under the soil.”
That scabby mo’fo. KC3 has always been a miserly, vain, weak man. I’m glad this is coming out.
He’s really like some villain in an old time melodrama. Total prick, no shades of gray.
I think that in addition to wanting to centre himself in the story of Diana’s funeral, Prince Charles also wanted to use his sons, his father, and Charles Spencer as human shields in case members of the public shouted at, or threw things at, or physically attacked him. So he was both narcissistic and cowardly. That’s why he looked so hunched and pained on the “outer flank” – it wasn’t due to sorrow, he was in defence mode – he was feeling exposed.
That makes so much sense.
The human shield has been the most common explanation ever since then. The only reason to make those poor boys go through that grotesque exhibition. He’s absolutely disgusting. A self serving, greedy narcissist.
We all know that he didn’t have the sack to do the walk himself. Those children were just used. And yet Harry still gives his undeserving father grace. Class personified.
Earl Spencer’s prose is so good, the way he decides on an adjective. I literally had tears in my eyes.
This writing is 🤌.
He is very intelligent and well read.
The part about the man blinking more than a tree does was 🤌🏻
I really enjoyed his writing in The White Ship (not realising it was by him) so I’m looking forward to reading this.
Oh, that section was perfection.
Phillip doing the decent thing in the moment is surprisingly.
I think Philip was prepared for what charles wanted to do and quickly went into action and told charles to back off
And no wonder Charles hated his father–no, we’re not doing that we’re doing this. In front of everyone.
I said it the other day, that Charles Windsor shouldn’t have been involved in the organizing of the funeral or claiming her body in Paris. He lost that right when he divorced Diana.
Not a fan of PP, but his action here was very respectful and decent. My thoughts on Harry, are where are the women in his family? I would have hugged that kid all day and into the night, maybe an act his “grandmother” should have undertaken, or an Aunt, etc….
The Windsors are an institution, not a family. This excerpt really proves that point.
The women seem to be just as callous.
This. My own mom died less than two weeks after Diana, and the day of her funeral, while her family (who were always ashamed that I’d been born out of wedlock) was hardly better than the Windsors, my paternal family doted on me. My dad was constantly checking to make sure I was OK, but it was my grandma (his stepmother) and my eldest brother’s wife who really took care of me. Like, my sister-in-law scooped me up and hugged me so many times that my feet hardly touched the ground the whole day,
Wow, I got goosebumps reading this @Miranda. That is real care, and what a wonderful memory to have. I’m due to attend a funeral soon and I’m dreading it due to all the shenanigans being pulled by extended relations who never gave a crap about my mother when she was alive. Like you said, hardly better than the Windsors. And it’s the women! Thankfully my sister and I have relatives who have always doted on us and will be showering us with hugs and surrounding us with love the whole way through. Your post gives me hope x.
I’m sorry about your mom, Magdalena. I wish I could help you.
I wondered about the Spencer women. I shepherded two of my nieces when my mother died because my sisters were distraught as were the children. I was checking in constantly on the young ones. They may not have able to with the grotesque cortege but I cant imagine leaving Harry.
I wonder if the Windsors kept the Spencer’s at arms length from him during this because didn’t Harry write in Spare that when of his Spencer aunts gave him one of Diana’s belongings that she hugged him and it really moved him? I could be misremembering but im pretty sure. Will re listen to that part in Spare later.
Wow! Phil for the win. My low opinion of Philip just went up a notch or two. There’s nothing all that new here. Many of us watched it happen in real time. But Spencer’s description of Harry and his concern for him is moving. This is so well written that the writing alone makes this book worthwhile.
The detail about the security guard blinking more than a tree should is great.
Why would anybody have had to curtsey to princess michael.
Because, as seen displayed prominently on her books (for which she received money for, you know, commercially) she is an HRH and after the divorce Diana wasn’t. So if you believe in and follow all that protocol stuff you’d curtsy when you first came upon each other. But Princess Michael (so stuck on titles and imaginary honors that she has robbed herself of her own name to seem important) of course only wanted it done in public.
Diana probably thought to herself, yeah…not worried. 🙄
Am not surprised Philip stepped in to shut Chuck down, he knew what kinds of man his son was and from what I’ve read he was fond of Diana.
Chuck has always been a big man baby and his grandmother was a big reason why. She ruined Chuck and tried to do the same with William.
Truth.
Charles wanted to go with camilla to Diana’s memorial service in 2007. Rosa monckton Diana’s friend complained about camilla going so she stayed home. That said Charles should have stayed home too. He showed up at the service
‘Please ignore me – I am a tree!’
Reader, I giggled. Which feels strange after reading the heart rending prose before this. Charles Spencer is a damned good writer. I need to get this book, because his phrasing is so weighted. I assume that he is to read the audio version of this book?
Charles wanting to be in the middle of the walk behind the coffin was gross. He was not Diana’s widower. Being there to “support” Harry and William, ok. William being the image of Diana THEN. LOL
He is literally telling us that William stopped being his mother’s son a long time ago. Without explicitly saying it. I had no idea this man was such a good writer.
Such subtle shade, because William actually did look like Diana then – even the same physical mannerisms, like the head tilt and half smile.
Oh, I absolutely took note of that!
He really can write, can’t he? Just placed a hold on this book at the library — only 90 people ahead of me!
So much for Diana would soon be forgotten, right?
I actually think that Philip didn’t want Charles in the middle to distance her from the monarchy. Philip always believed that the monarchy was greater than her. Up to his death, he was probably shocked that she continued to outshine everyone,even the queen, after her death. I asked someone who is the Princess of Wales and they said Princess Diana.
The radio station I listen to on the way to work has a trivia contest in the morning. Two callers compete and the first one with five correct answers wins a prize. One question was ” What is the Princess of Wales name?” The first caller said Diana and the DJ said that was incorrect. The second caller said Kate and that was also judged as incorrect. He said he was looking for Catherine and the calls and text messages he got after that were hilarious, all putting him in his place. Basically that NO ONE refers to the current PoW as Catherine, and Diana is the only PoW most of us think of lol
Ha! Love that story!
I wonder how this played into Peg’s raging jealousy of Harry. The non Windsor family seemed to have recognized that Harry was a young boy grieving the sudden loss of his mother and knew that required a special kind of care. We know Pegs got special treatment from the Windsors as the heir but was it the care that a grieving child needed?
I’d like think that Diana’s sisters gathered Harry in a giant protective hug behind the scenes. He still seems close to them now so maybe that’s what happened.
I think they seem very fond of Harry. I remember when there was that unveiling of the Diana statue a few years back, which both Harry and William attended, the two Spencer aunts appeared and their reaction to the two brothers was quite revealing. They seemed very formal with William, but were visibly delighted to see Harry. I think Harry has always been close to the Spencer family – William, not so much.
I don’t think William or Harry got the care they needed after Diana died. I think keeping the boys at Balmoral was the right thing to do to keep them away from the media, but I don’t think anyone there had the emotional intelligence to gauge if they needed a hug, sympathetic ear, a long walk etc to help them. And they certainly didn’t get any counseling or therapy they needed after the loss of a parent.
“ He was the image of his mother then: tall and handsome and dignified.”
Oh, that glorious “then” in that sentence. Charles Spencer is no William fan.
@Ciotog: “ He was the image of his mother then: tall and handsome and dignified.”
Oh, that glorious “then” in that sentence. Charles Spencer is no William fan.
Right! The observations are so sharp, you don’t realise the cut until your thumb is bleeding.
That “then” is a glorious choice. He is messy. But so so subtle with it.
I cannot wait to read the rest of the book.
Princess Margaret refusing to bow shows how crass and bitter the woman was. In “normal” society it’s common to see complete strangers bowing their heads when a funeral possession passes. It’s seen as a sign of respect for a person’s final journey. Awful woman.
Margaret was trash.
Even the queen bowed that day. Although Betty was always about decorum, wasn’t she
@androsoul
Lizzie was about optics.
Despicable Charles Windsor.
When Prince Phillip comes off as the kind, sensitive one you know you’re dealing with abominable people!
Though no prize as a prince, spouse or father, Philip seemed to be a decent grandfather. I remember a story about his being at the White House before the JFK funeral, seeing John John alone, and getting down on the floor to play with (& distract) him. He probably did identify with lonely or orphaned children.
Aawww that’s so sweet. Phill definitely had his moments and apparently he and Harry video called quite often before he died
Came here because of the photos.
I had to follow my mother casket less than one year ago, and it’s the worst walk you can imagine. I am 45 and still traumatised.
Those boys…doing that in front of the world…
This is who I’ve always believed Chuck to be, his giddiness over Princess Diana’s death doesn’t surprise since I’ve long believed he had something to do with it in the first place.. if you look back there are always a few articles that hint at his true personality, this book is going to destroy his decades long pr strategy to hide who he truly is and it’s long overdue.
THEN…William Then. Oh the Burn
No wonder Harry is so close to the Spencer family. They were the only ones who were there for him in that formative moment of anguish.
I watched the entire funeral procession to the point that I fell asleep when it was time for the funeral. The most profound moment was when they arrived under the arch. I saw their embrace and showed great open emotion. I will always remember that moment & to my knowledge, they scrapped that part of the procession and I’ve never seen it again.
I am a believer that Charles et. al. killed Princess Diana. From the beginning when I heard of the accident, I remembered that she had been stripped of the HRH (which I didn’t comprehend at that time) but I knew it had something to do with losing her security.
I also remembered before her death, there were many articles about Diana dating & possibly marrying a person of color & that the future king (Wm) would “aghast” have a half breed sibling. Therefore when I first heard of Diana’s accident, I knew this was their way of resolving this “problem?” Fast forward to the ridiculous security issues & danger they have put Prince Harry & family through, maybe Charles Spencer HAD to write this book to reveal the truth & to prevent another “royal accident.”
I think Charles Spencer wanted to write this book for years but waited until his brother in law Robert Fellowes was dead to publish it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Charles wrote this book close to 25 years ago and kept it on ice for the right time.
Everything else, I agree with you 100% percent.
I remember being 12 when Diana died. I watched the funeral with my dad and I remember telling my dad that I didn’t think Harry was handling this well. My dad remarked that it was disgusting that they were making the boys walk behind Diana’s coffin and that (then) Prince Charles had a lot of gaul to even show his face there after what happened between them.
While I think Charles can know how to read the room, I think he read the room completely wrong on this one. I think he thought he won (and I genuinely think it’s because he orchestrated her accident). This was a victory lap for Charles and he used his boys as trophies.
My late mother was on the same page as your father.
She was horrified.
Yes, my mother was horrified too. She was also very angry that Charles flew to Paris to bring back the coffin and that he walked in the procession. She thought he was a hypocrite after the way he had treated Diana. The way the RF tried to get themselves out of the terrible PR situation they had found themselves in, where people were very angry and speaking out about them in disgust was so fake. They were forced to act. It was a moment of real peril for them.