Charles Spencer’s new book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is making headlines for its claims about King Charles III. In excerpts, Spencer says the King sounded“giddily elated”during their first phone call after Diana’s death in August 1997, comparing it to how a lottery winner might sound. He also alleges Charles said the world would“forget her soon enough”during a disagreement over funeral arrangements.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the book, but offered a note that grief can cloud reason and color memory. That framing matters, because this story is less about one phone call and more about how three decades of public mourning have been narrated by different people with different recollections.
There’s another layer here: Princes William and Harry. Spencer writes that Charles told him the boys had been informed that morning at Balmoral. They were teenagers processing unimaginable loss while the whole world watched, and they’ve stayed largely quiet about the inner details of that week.
Do you think books like this help the historical record, or do they just reopen old wounds? Let us know in the comments.
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Local Lawton
Local Lawton is a contributor to LocalBeat, covering local news and community stories.