TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - In the new book "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, offers his perspective on the life of his late sister, Diana, Princess of Wales.
As British tabloid culture ensures that every feud and controversy linked to the royal family gets amplified into a major public debate, the memoir started making headlines before its publication on September 22.
Among some of the key revelations of the book, he says that he believes that Diana had ADHD, and that "as part of that condition she suffered from Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria," which he describes as "an intense emotional pain in the face of others' rejection or criticism."
Spencer also claims their father developed a "romantic connection" with the future Queen Elizabeth II, until he was warned off her by Lord Mountbatten, who was the maternal uncle and close mentor of the queen's husband, Prince Philip.
But most polemically, Spencer revisits one of the British royal family's most painful chapters: the aftermath of Diana's tragic death in a car crash on August 31, 1997.
'We'll forget her soon enough'
Spencer writes that when Queen Elizabeth II first heard of Diana's accident, her initial reaction was: "What is she up to now?" before the gravity of the situation became clear.
Princess Diana's death sparked a global outpouring of grief. In the aftermath of the car crash, the royals faced strong public backlash for their delayed and cold response to the tragedy. The Queen's first public address came five days after Diana's death.
In his book, Spencer suggests that some inside Buckingham Palace were "relieved — indeed pleased" that she had died. He also recounts a phone conversation with King Charles, then-Prince of Wales that happened days after her death. According to Spencer, the prince sounded "giddily elated — like a lottery winner."
Spencer writes that they discussed how he objected to having Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, walk behind their mother's coffin during the funeral procession at the internationally televised funeral.
Spencer felt it would be traumatic to put the boys in the media spotlight just after their mother had died. He writes in the book that he believes the boys were used as a protective shield for Charles, as Buckingham Palace officials feared "members of the public might shout abuse at him," whereas the children's presence "would surely guarantee against insults flying."
Spencer also recounts Diana's belief that Prince Charles had already become jealous of her popularity decades earlier.
He describes how Prince Charles went into a "stream of anger" during the phone conversation after her death. The princess's brother writes that her former husband unleashed "his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. 'Rest assured,' he hissed, 'we'll forget her soon enough!'"
But nearly 30 years after the fatal car crash, Diana remains a global icon. The 36-year-old was a glamorous celebrity, renowned for her advocacy for different causes, including her groundbreaking support for AIDS patients.
Buckingham Palace directly reacted to the first excerpt published in the Daily Mail: "While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle. His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss."
In contrast, the Palace met Prince Harry's accusations in his 2023 memoir "Spare" with total institutional silence, applying the royals' traditional public relations strategy of "Never complain, never explain."
Speaking on behalf of the 'blood family'
The feud between Earl Spencer and Buckingham Palace is not new.
Spencer famously delivered a passionate eulogy for his sister at Westminster Abbey in 1997. In it, he not only criticized the role of the paparazzi in the accident, calling his sister the "most hunted person of the modern age," but also set himself apart from the royals by referring to his blood ties with Diana in a promise to protect her boys "from a similar fate."
"I pledge that we, your blood family, will do all we can to continue the imaginative way in which you were steering these two exceptional young men so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition but can sing openly as you planned," he said at the time.
On the day of the funeral, Spencer writes, Queen Elizabeth II offered through intermediaries to posthumously restore Diana's "Her Royal Highness" (HRH) title. Spencer declined, as he felt the gesture had little meaning after her death.
Even though Buckingham Palace has always insisted Diana gave up the title voluntarily, Spencer writes that she was left "dreadfully hurt" by its removal amid her divorce with Charles.
Intrusive tabloid culture led to her death
In his book, Spencer returns to the themes he addressed in his eulogy, accusing the editors and publishers who bought intrusive photos of Diana of having contributed to killing his sister.
According to him, British tabloid culture turned into system that profited from Diana's suffering and encouraged increasingly extreme invasions of privacy.
After the divorce, large sections of the media began portraying Diana as unstable, manipulative, difficult or attention-seeking. Paparazzi would provoke distress and photograph her reaction; newspapers would then publish stories suggesting she was unstable.
She was unable to escape media scrutiny, making her extremely unhappy: "It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all," Spencer writes, adding: "Her love for her sons stopped her from going further."
A lucrative release ahead of 30th anniversary of Diana's death
While Spencer has long criticized the destructive nature of the British tabloid system, the promotion of his memoir relies on the exact ecosystem he decries. He has sold serialization rights of the book to the UK's Daily Mail — one of the very tabloid outlets frequently associated with intense royal scrutiny.
Some critics accuse him of wanting to cash in on the tragedy, with the high-profile book published just ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana's death.
His supporters however feel that Diana's brother is justified to share his personal perspective on their shared experience, noting that many other authors have profited off her legacy over the decades.
Spencer has stated that his account aims to correct decades of "untruths that have become accepted over time" and inaccurate portrayals of his late sister by outside biographers and commentators over the years.
"At heart, this is a brother's simple tribute to an extraordinary sister," Earl Spencer wrote of his own work on Instagram, adding, "A month ago I read 'Swan Song' out, over three days, for a recording so that it could be available on audiobook. When I finished the recording, I thought: 'That is exactly what I wanted and needed to say — and she would, I reckon, have approved of every word.'"
Read: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Net Worth: How Wealthy Are They?
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