Charles Spencer Shares Prince Harry and Prince William's Reaction to His Diana Memoir
Charles Spencer did not want his memoir to be a group effort, and therefore, he didn’t tell anyone about it beforehand.
Charles Spencer has been going the extra mile to promote his latest memoir about his elder sister, Princess Diana. Keeping up with this promotional tour, Spencer recently spoke with Gayle King on CBS Mornings. During the interview, the Earl discussed the writing process for Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, and clarified that he deliberately chose to write it entirely on his own. “I decided not to have anyone involved in the book,” Spencer shared, “so no one knew about it except my wife, obviously, and the publishers.”
But that’s not all. Spencer further added, “I didn’t tell any of the family until just before it was released publicly as a thing because I didn’t want anyone to think, particularly with Harry, who people know I had to stay in the summer, that he was in any way involved in this. It was really important for me that they weren’t.” However, when King asked whether he had spoken to Prince Harry and Prince William after the memoir’s release, Spencer exclaimed, “Yes, I have!” King also inquired about their reactions to the memoir and whether they “approve” of it.
Diana’s brother responded by explaining that he isn’t sure, as he hadn’t actually asked for their approval. However, Spencer added, “I can say that Harry is completely fine about it. He said, I hope nothing is embarrassing about him in it. I said, ‘There isn’t.’ I think they were actually worried about where I was going with the book. It pretty much ends in 1997 with Diana’s death, and there’s a tiny postscript by the grave. So I think there was this, ‘Gosh, what’s he written about?’ And I think it’s natural that people in the public eye are concerned about how they will come across in the book.”
On the other hand, Spencer noted that he reassured both princes that while they are mentioned in the book, they are only presented as examples of two little boys who happened to have the most exceptional mother.
He concluded by saying, “I’m not in any way compromising their privacy at all.” Beyond this, Spencer explained that when it comes to his sisters, they are still working on “digesting” the book. “I think they were hurt that I hadn’t told them, to be honest,” he shared. “I said, ‘I was going to hurt you either way, because I was either going to tell you and still write it how I wanted it. It wasn’t going to be a committee effort. I wanted them to be able to put their hand up and say, ‘Well, we didn’t know he was doing it,’ in case there’s backlash or whatever. So they’re totally innocent parties in this. This is very much a brother’s view.”
