Diana, Princess of Wales, in Washington in June 1997. Credit: John Mathew Smith & www.celebrity-photos.com, CC BY-SA 2.0.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is out in France on September 22, 2026, nearly thirty years after the Princess of Wales’s death. In it, her brother gives his version of the decisions made in 1997, including a phone call with the future Charles III. Buckingham Palace disputes this memory, with no independent confirmation at this stage, and it has become the main point of controversy surrounding this international release.
A Phone Call Whose Account The Palace Disputes
In the excerpts published by the Daily Mail, Charles Spencer says the Prince of Wales supposedly assured him that Diana would soon be forgotten. He places this remark in the context of a dispute over whether William and Harry should take part in their mother’s funeral procession. According to his account, he then expressed his shock before hanging up.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson responded on behalf of Charles III. After reiterating its policy of not commenting on books, the palace said the pain of losing a sister can affect reasoning, judgment, and memory, even long after the death. In doing so, it calls Spencer’s account into question, without offering its own detailed version of the exchange.
Julian Payne, the king’s former communications chief, told the BBC that the intervention was unusual. In his view, it shows the palace’s desire to correct this account.
Diana’s brother nonetheless stands by his comments. In his interview with Laura Kuenssberg for the BBC, he says he remembers the conversation clearly. Asked what might support his accusation, he says he told close friends about the episode at the time. That is his claim: those alleged confidences do not, by themselves, amount to independent confirmation of the words spoken.
The BBC said on September 18 that Buckingham Palace had declined to issue any further response to these remarks. That lack of additional comment does not amount to an acknowledgment of Charles Spencer’s account.
William And Harry At The Center Of The Dispute
The disagreement described by Spencer first concerns the place of two children in a ceremony watched around the world. William was 15 and Harry was 12. Their uncle says he objected to their walking behind the coffin, arguing that Diana would not have wanted them to be put through that public ordeal.
In his version, Prince Charles cited his own attendance at Lord Mountbatten’s funeral in 1979. Spencer says he replied that he was 30 at the time and that it was not his mother. This exchange belongs to the same contested account of the phone call; it cannot be presented as an established reconstruction.
The ceremony itself is documented. On September 6, 1997, the two boys walked through London with their father, their grandfather, Prince Philip, and Charles Spencer. The funeral took place at Westminster Abbey, six days after Diana died in a car crash in Paris. Her coffin was then taken to Althorp, the Spencer family estate, for a private burial.
Diana’s sons have offered their own memories of that day. In the BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, broadcast in 2017, William described a family decision that was difficult to make, balancing public duty and the need to grieve their mother privately. Harry said, with hindsight, that he was glad to have taken part, though he had previously felt no child should have to go through such an ordeal. These testimonies shed light on their experience, without settling the question of the words attributed to their father.
What The Book Says About Lady Diana
The French edition is being published by Flammarion under the title Diana, My Sister: Swan Song. It runs 448 pages. The original title is Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. In the United Kingdom, the book is published by Penguin Michael Joseph; in the United States, by Penguin Press.
According to an announcement by Bertelsmann, the parent company of Penguin Random House, the September 22 release spans several countries and is accompanied by translations into twelve languages. France is therefore part of an international launch, preceded by the publication of excerpts in the British press.
The announced project goes beyond the days of the funeral. In its presentation of the book, Penguin Random House describes a narrative that begins with the childhood of the two youngest Spencer siblings. The author revisits their closeness, boarding schools, and their parents’ divorce, before turning to Diana’s marriage, motherhood, and media exposure.
The Extension Of A 1997 Speech
Charles Spencer had already spoken publicly on behalf of his family at the funeral. The text of his eulogy makes it possible to distinguish what he said then from the explanation he gives today.
At Westminster, he praised Diana’s commitment to marginalized people and denounced the pressure the press had put on her. He also promised, on behalf of the Spencer family, to look after William and Harry. His speech linked respect for their future royal role with the need to let them have a life not entirely shaped by duty and tradition.
In his September 2026 interview, Spencer now presents the end of that tribute as a direct response to the line he attributes to Prince Charles. The 1997 speech does indeed state that Diana will not fade from memory. However, it does not mention this phone call. The link between the two is part of the author’s retrospective explanation.
The Last Word Claimed By Charles Spencer
In Penguin Random House’s publication announcement, Charles Spencer says he wanted to set down his memories in the face of interview requests prompted by the upcoming anniversary. He also says he wants to correct accounts he considers inaccurate.
The author emphasizes that intent in his BBC interview, broadcast on September 20. He presents the book as a tribute and as his final broad statement about his sister. The title Swan Song refers, he says, to that desire to bring things to a close.
Asked about his relationship with the monarchy, he says he remains supportive of the institution, while wanting to see it evolve. He says his book deals with remarks and decisions nearly 30 years old, rather than with Charles III in the current exercise of his office. The palace’s official response nevertheless gives this family story immediate public significance, 11 months before the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death on August 31, 2027.