Princess Diana's Brother is Going to War Against the Royal Family

Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer and brother of the late Princess Diana, has never been one to keep his opinions on the royal family hidden. He famously read them to filth during his sister’s funeral and has been vocal in his criticisms for decades. Now, with the release of his latest memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, he’s burning all remaining bridges.

In it, he goes into detail about Diana’s struggles with married life and the cruelty she faced from the now King Charles. Chuck is portrayed as bitter, particularly towards his parents, and callous towards Diana. Spencer famously opposed having Princes William and Harry walk behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral. There’s even an allegation that Diana had said the King was in love with his valet, although Spencer admits that this was most likely untrue. In her later years, he writes, Diana considered taking her own life on more than one occasion but love for her sons “stopped her from going further.”

Perhaps the most damning claim is that, following Diana’s death, Charles sounded like a “lottery winner” after the news and said of his late ex-wife, “we’ll forget her soon enough.” That detail led to Buckingham Palace releasing a statement, saying, “His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”

The British royal press has gone into overtime to portray Spencer as the bitter fame-seeker who wants to hurt poor old Charlie. The narrative has been one of a vindictive brother, but surely if anyone has the right to want to go full John Wick against the Windsors, it’s Diana’s family? Outside of think-piece writers and royal “reporters”, the focus has largely been on getting as much dirt as possible out of this story. I’d argue that, even close to 30 years after her death, Diana is still the most popular royal by a mile. Everyone loves Diana: queer people, Daily Express readers, immigrant mothers, anti-royalists, flag wavers, drag queens, and so on. It’s one of the few unifying parts of being British. And it’s not hard to imagine Charles being less than sorrowful when the woman he never loved and lied to when she was a teenager died unexpectedly, leaving him free to wed his mistress. Really, that’s been the prevailing assumption for years now.

Is Spencer doing it for the money? I’m sure it doesn’t hurt, but he’s also a British peer who recently sold 310 acres of his family estate for a reported £60 million. He is not hurting for cash. I think he’s just clearing the air because, hell, why not? His last memoir, A Very Private School, detailed his difficult childhood and the years of violence and abuse he experienced at private school, including several instances of rape. He has been candid in recent years about how much the British class system sucks, even if you’re at the top of the pile. It’s smothering and psychologically torturous to live according to ridiculous social doctrine, and it didn’t exactly work for Diana as well. Obviously, the money helps, but it’s still pretty remarkable that Spencer has so thoroughly called out the trappings that continue to rule Britain and make it worse. And yes, that includes the royal family.

The book is currently in the top 20 of the Amazon charts (and also has a one star rating despite not being officially released until tomorrow.) I wonder how much damage it can do to the royals. Look at how Andrew Lownie’s book on the Yorks helped to put the nail in their coffin. Always and forever, abolish the monarchy.