'It's a brother's tribute to an extraordinary sister': Earl Spencer says his new tell-all book about Diana's death is his 'most personal work by some distance'

Earl Spencer today said his sensational memoir about Princess Diana and the aftermath of her death was a 'personal work' and a 'brother's tribute to an extraordinary sister'.

Diana's brother said it was an 'amazing moment' to receive a printed copy of the new book Swan Song, adding that it was his 'most personal work by some distance'.

The book, described as 'historic' and 'extraordinarily moving', is expected to cover Diana's childhood, her deeply unhappy 15-year marriage to the then-Prince of Wales, and the febrile days following her death in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.

As anticipation builds as to what Swan Song could reveal, Earl Spencer today posted two photos on X of him proudly holding it ahead of the publication on September 22.

The 62-year-old wrote in an accompanying caption: 'Always an amazing moment for an author to receive a printed copy of their new book for the first time - particularly on this occasion, with 'Swan Song' being my most personal work by some distance.

'At the end of the day, it's a brother's tribute to an extraordinary sister.'

Swan Song, which will be published around the world and translated into 12 languages, is expected to provide an unprecedented inside account of a seismic week during which the House of Windsor was rocked by a global wave of public grief and anger.

Earl Spencer famously delivered a raw and defiant eulogy during Diana's funeral at Westminster Abbey, which was broadcast to an astonishing worldwide audience of 2.5billion.

Earl Spencer said it was an 'amazing moment' to receive a printed copy of his new Diana book

Earl Spencer said his memoir about Diana and the aftermath of her death is a 'personal work'

During the powerful oration, he highlighted how his sister 'needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic'.

He also pledged that Diana's 'blood family' would protect Princes William and Harry 'so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned'.

His words so moved the huge crowds gathered outside that their spontaneous applause was eventually followed by clapping from the congregation inside the Abbey.

Announcing the book last month, Earl Spencer said: 'With the 30th anniversary of Diana's tragic death on the skyline, I've been inundated yet again with requests for interviews about my sister.

'This has convinced me to write down my own thoughts and memories, once and for all, rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others, many of which are based on untruths that have become accepted over time.'

He added: 'The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother's perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral. As with my eulogy, I want to speak on Diana's behalf and do so in an openly positive way.

'I hope this book will be of interest to the many who still cherish the memory of Diana when she was alive, and I would be delighted if those too young to remember her in her heyday feel – after reading this – that they 'get' who she really was: a one-off, dynamic character, full of love, charisma and self-doubt, who gave life a hell of a go, and left the world a far better place, despite exiting the stage while still so young.'

In the days leading up to the funeral, a heated row broke out behind the scenes over the decision for William and Harry to walk in Diana's funeral procession.

Writing in his controversial 2023 memoir Spare, Harry disclosed that his uncle objected vocally at the time, describing as a 'barbarity' the idea of having the boys, then aged 15 and 12, following the funeral cortege.

'Swan Song: Diana, My Sister' by Earl Spencer is due to be published on September 22

He also revealed that when an alternative plan was suggested of having William walk alone behind the coffin, Harry objected, saying he did not want his brother to undergo the ordeal on his own.

Earlier this year, Earl Spencer described how 'fundamentally unhappy' he becomes every year on the anniversary of his sister's death and how he finds it hard when strangers tell him where they were when she died.

Reflecting on Diana's 'extraordinary' legacy, he added: 'It's different things to different people, particularly to women of a similar age. They really invested their lives in hers.

'Maybe they had an unhappy marriage, maybe they battled an eating disorder. There's plenty of Diana to look into and take your bit out of – almost like a horoscope, you can make it make sense for you.'

Swan Song is due to be published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph, a division of Penguin Random House.

The book's striking cover features an elegant black-and-white photograph of Diana.

Publisher Daniel Bunyard said: 'This is a book of historic importance, telling as it does the story of one of the 20th century's most iconic and culturally significant figures, but it is also utterly unique in being written by Earl Spencer, from a vantage point of such intimacy.

'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.

Earl Spencer addresses the congregation at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey in 1997

Diana with Charles Spencer in their early years. They called each other 'Carlos' and 'Duch'

'It is extraordinarily moving, beautifully written and remarkably candid, in no small part due to Charles's rare ability to access great emotional depth without sentimentality, honest observation without rancour, and warmth without gloss.

'While these pages contain many revelations that will draw considerable attention, readers will find, for the first time, but also for all time, a fitting tribute to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.'

Charles Spencer and Diana grew up at the idyllic Park House on Queen Elizabeth's Sandringham estate in Norfolk, until the family moved to Althorp in 1975 when Charles was 12.

Diana affectionately called her younger brother 'Carlos', while he would call her 'Duch' – short for duchess.

Their father, Viscount ('Johnnie') Spencer, had been equerry to both Queen Elizabeth and her father, George VI, while Diana's mother, Frances, was the younger daughter of the 4th Baron Fermoy.

Diana was the Spencers' third daughter and not the longed-for son who would secure continuance of the title. When Charles was born three years after Diana, a fireworks display was held in celebration.

Frances left Johnnie, later the 8th Earl Spencer, for the wallpaper heir Peter Shand Kydd in 1967. In an acrimonious custody battle the following year, Frances was dubbed 'a bolter' and lost the care of Diana, Charles and their older sisters Jane and Sarah.

From the age of eight, Charles was sent to Maidwell Hall boarding school in Northamptonshire, where he suffered appalling physical and sexual abuse.

Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles follow behind Princess Diana's coffin during the funeral procession to Westminster Abbey in September 1997

Princess Diana and Prince Charles at Munich Opera House in November 1987

In an extract from his poignant 2024 memoir A Very Private School, serialised exclusively in The Mail on Sunday, he described how a predatory assistant matron – whom he called a 'voracious paedophile' – preyed on him and other boys, grooming and then abusing them in their dormitory beds.

Earl Spencer had a ringside seat during his sister's marriage to the future King, their eventual bitter separation and, in 1996, their divorce.

In 2020 he revealed how rogue BBC reporter Martin Bashir spun a shocking web of deceit to obtain his 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, during which the princess famously declared 'there are three of us in this marriage' – referring to Camilla Parker Bowles.

Bashir showed the Earl forged bank statements to gain access to Diana and then tricked her by peddling a string of lies, including that Prince William's watch had been bugged to record her conversations.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children Archie and Lilibet reportedly visited the Althorp estate last month, where they are thought to have laid flowers on Diana's grave.

Harry and Meghan have since returned from California to an undisclosed location in the UK, where the children will go to school.

The princess's final resting place is on a tree-covered island in the middle of an ornamental lake called the Oval Lake.

Swan Song by Charles Spencer (Penguin Michael Joseph, £28). To order a copy for £23.80 go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. Free UK delivery on orders over £25. Promotional price valid until 30/09/2026