Charles Spencer’s Diana Book Gets a Half-Price Reality Check

0:03 Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. Charles Spencer's memoir about Diana arrived in bookshops with prominent displays, a half-price offer, and, according to The Independent, a quiet opening morning at several central London stores. Swan Song Diana, my sister, carries a recommended price of £ 28. 00, Waterstones was offering the hardback for £ 14, both in shops and online, on its first day of sale. The Independent reported only a handful of early customers at Waterstones Piccadilly, with similarly quiet scenes at branches in Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden, and at foils on Charing Cross Road. Among those buying a copy was Mary Scheibel, a 69-year-old retired pharmacist visiting from Atlanta. Speaking to the Press Association, she explained why Diana's story had stayed with her I was married the same year that she and Charles were married, so there was kind of an affinity there. So I wanted to see her brother's side of the story and what he had to say, and mostly read about growing up in their family in that part of her life.

1:12 The memoir is set to be corrected in future editions after wrongly linking Piers Morgan to the publication of secretly taken gym photographs of the princess. The Times reported that the correction will appear in subsequent printings of Swan Song Diana My Sister. That does not amount to the withdrawal of copies already on sale, which Morgan has demanded. The error concerns the timeline. The photographs appeared in 1993. Morgan became editor of the Daily Mirror in 1995. A spokesperson for Spencer stood by the account of their conversation, but acknowledged that the explanation attached to it was wrong. He therefore wishes to clarify that his assumption was incorrect. Earl Spencer apologises to Mr Morgan for this error. Morgan says the apology is insufficient. Speaking to ITV News, he said, I've instructed Schillings, the legal firm, to send a legal letter to him and to his publishers, Penguin, demanding they withdraw these now-admitted false claims in the book about me.

2:08 In a social media post on Tuesday, he said he was pursuing legal action against Spencer and his publisher, Penguin, and have the lies removed and damages paid to the King's Trust. Morgan also appeared on Good Morning Britain and said, I know for a fact the royal family are spitting blood, they are furious, a Writing in the iPaper, Emily Boodle describes Swansong as both a tribute to Diana and an account of her brother's own grief. Her assessment raises a question that runs through the book. How much can one sibling's memories tell us about another sibling's life? According to the review, Spencer remembers considerable happiness in their childhood. There were seaside outings, games, visits to Sandringham and the pleasures of growing up in grand houses with room to explore.

2:53 But alongside those memories, he describes a household disrupted by divorce, bereavement, and, in his account, violent treatment by nannies. Spencer writes, Diana tended to present our childhood as less happy than I believe it truly was. One particularly painful episode, as recounted in the review, concerns Diana waiting for their mother to return after she left the family home. Another concerns the death of their infant brother, John, before either Diana or Charles was born. Boodle finds Spencer's writing compelling, particularly when he describes those early years, but he also questions some of his choices about what to disclose. The book reportedly includes Spencer's speculation about Diana's mental health. That remains his interpretation, not an established diagnosis. More broadly, publishing intimate details about someone who cannot respond raises a question no family memoir can easily resolve. Where does telling the truth about your own life become possible? speaking on behalf of somebody else.

3:55 Then there are the allegations about the man who is now king. According to the review, Spencer claims that Charles told him after Diana's death, we'll forget her soon enough. Buckingham Palace has denied that allegation. The iPaper reports, it should therefore be understood as a disputed account of a private conversation rather than an established quotation from the king. Spencer also recounts other encounters that portray Charles as insensitive, yet Boodle notes that He expresses sympathy for both Charles and Diana over their troubled marriage and that Camilla receives comparatively little attention. The resulting picture in her reading is more complicated than a straightforward attack on the Windsors. It is a brother trying to explain his sister while also revisiting his own anger and loss. Queen Camilla is reportedly urging restraint as King Charles and Earl Spencer clash over Spencer Diana's memoirs. Radar Online, citing an unnamed source, claims she wants to support the King without encouraging another public exchange of accusations. She isn't looking to involve herself in a point-by-point argument with Charles Spencer or publicly challenging his recollections, the source said. In The Telegraph, Alison Pearson writes under the headline, Make no mistake, Earl Spencer is on a mission to destroy the King. Her central challenge concerns Spencer's description of Charles sounding giddily elated after Diana's death Pearson contrasts that with Prince Harry's account in Spare, which describes his father as subdued and apparently shocked when breaking the news.

5:27 Those accounts concern different conversations, but Pearson argues that Spencer gives readers an unfairly selective picture. She also challenges his suggestion that Charles immediately saw Diana's death as freeing him to marry Camilla, pointing out that Spencer presents this as a suspicion rather than something he could know. She does concede that Spencer has grounds to criticise royal decisions. She agrees that William and Harry should not have been expected to walk behind their mother's coffin and argues that Diana became dangerously isolated after leaving the marriage. But Pearson's wider case is firmly in the King's defence. She depicts him as a flawed man who has tried to make amends while accusing Spencer of using his sister's memory to reopen old hostilities. Her conclusion is uncompromising. I know which Charles I'd rather believe. More Palace in just a moment. King Charles brought some experience and a little caution to a plaque unveiling during a visit highlighting the energy transition in northeast Scotland. Unveiling plaques can be a slightly hazardous occasion, which I have discovered to my cost on many occasions.

6:36 He joked at Great British Energy's headquarters. He had reason to be wary. Early this month, a plaque fell onto the grass during a Victoria League anniversary event another topple during his March visit to Oxford photovoltaics. This time, the ceremony went smoothly, as did a second unveiling at Peterhead Port Authority. Three animal rights campaigners accused of stealing lambs from the Sandringham Estate told police they believed King Charles would have agreed to what they described as a rescue. The women deny theft and are on trial at Norwich Crown Court. According to the BBC's report, prosecutors say there is no dispute that the Animal Rising members took three lambs from Appleton Farm in May 2023. The question before the jury is whether they acted dishonestly. The women handed themselves in at Windsor Palace Police Station the following day and posed outside Windsor Castle with signs including, I rescued the king's sheep. In a prepared statement, they said returning the animals would expose them to what they believed were unlawful welfare standards and harm. They also said they believed the king or those responsible for the lambs would have consented to their rescue. The farm's head stockman, Gordon Robinson, said in a statement that he had extensive experience rearing lambs and the farm had passed recent government inspections. The court heard that the animals, valued at between 400 and 500 pounds altogether, had been passed to someone else and remain missing. Meanwhile, a dairyman has been convicted of handling and receiving stolen goods, including a sign depicting King Charles.

8:08 Police found royal and remembrance emblems in the man's van. The man said he had removed the items from the bonfire to prevent them being burned. They included a William of Orange emblem, a Lest We Forget flag, and the sign depicting His Majesty. The man denied both charges, saying he intended to contact police, but was leaving on holiday the following morning. And there you have it. If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com. If you're on Spotify, leave us a comment. If you're on Apple, hit that button that says listen uninterrupted and get the show commercial free for just five bucks a month We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue. Good times.