Charles Spencer says he hid his Princess Diana memoir from the family so no one would pin the project on Prince Harry, while still leveling hard claims at King Charles.
Princess Diana’s brother told CBS Mornings he wrote “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” without looping in relatives, and that secrecy was the point. Only his wife, Cat Jarman, and the publishers knew until just before the book went public.
Spencer, 62, the 9th Earl Spencer, said he did not want anyone to think other family members were “in any way involved”, “particularly” his nephew Prince Harry. That clarification lands after weeks of silence from Harry and Prince William, who have dodged questions about the book and offered no public comment.
Harry, 42, Meghan Markle, and their children, Archie, 7, and Lilibet, 5, stayed with Spencer at Althorp House in July. Spencer said Harry was “in the dark at the time” about the manuscript.
When Spencer finally told the brothers, he did it together. In last week’s People cover story, he said he reassured them they appear “of course in the book, but really as examples of two little boys who had the most exceptional mother,” and that he did so without “compromising their privacy at all.”
Spencer said Harry’s first concern was blunt.
He recalled Harry asking:
"Is there anything in there that would be embarrassing to me?"
Spencer said he “absolutely [did] not” violate Harry’s privacy, and added he can say “Harry is completely fine about it.” He has not asked Harry or William whether they “approve” of the release.
On the Monday interview with Gayle King, Spencer put the secrecy in plain terms.
"Nobody knew about it except my wife, Cat Jarman, obviously, and the publishers. I didn’t tell any of the family until just before it was released publicly."
The same book that Spencer says shields the princes’ privacy takes direct aim at King Charles III. Spencer claims that after Diana’s fatal August 1997 car crash, his then-ex-brother-in-law appeared “elated” and said on a phone call that she would be forgotten “soon enough.”
Charles, 77, denied the allegation in a statement earlier this month. The statement said “the pain of fraternal grief” can “color memory.”
Spencer rejected that framing. He said he has had only two phone conversations with the now-king, told people about the call at the time, and even told Barbara Walters then. He called the palace response a form of “gaslight[ing].”
"They have to gaslight. They have to pretend there’s something sort of wrong with my mind or my memory. There’s nothing wrong with either."
He added: “I know I heard that. I’ve only had two conversations on the phone with the now-king, so that’s definitely the case.”
Page Six also reported talk that Harry is in discussions to make a Diana documentary tied to the 30th anniversary of her death, and is trying to bring Spencer on board. Neither Harry nor William has publicly addressed “Swan Song” in recent weeks.
Spencer’s choice is clear on the record he gave: keep Harry’s fingerprints off the book, insist the princes’ privacy was protected, and still publish an account that King Charles says is warped by grief. The princes remain quiet. The king has denied the ugliest charge. Spencer says his memory is fine.
Royal tell-alls keep selling the same family fight to the same audience, while the people named in them decide, one by one, how much silence is worth.
