Earl Spencer to Publish Diana Memoir on Sept. 22 as 30th Anniversary Nears

Q: What specific long-accepted untruths about Princess Diana will her brother finally expose in his highly anticipated new memoir?

They have not been specified publicly yet. Earl Spencer has said only that *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister* will correct “untruths that have become accepted over time,” but neither he nor Penguin has identified the exact claims in advance. What is clear from the publisher’s description and wider reporting is the likely territory of those corrections: Diana’s character and state of mind, her marriage to the then-Prince Charles, the media-driven narrative around her, and the events of the final week before her death. Some reports also suggest the book may revisit portrayals of Diana as unstable or “unbalanced,” views long associated with palace and media briefings, though that remains reporting and not a confirmed excerpt from the book itself. The memoir is being billed as Spencer’s first sustained public account of his sister, drawing on his personal memories and his perspective as her brother. Penguin says it contains “many revelations,” but until extracts are released or the book is published on 22 September, any precise claim about which “long-accepted untruths” will be exposed would be speculative. So the short answer is that the specifics remain under wraps; the memoir is expected to set the record straight on Diana’s life, public image, marriage and final days, but the exact “untruths” have not yet been disclosed.

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Aug 18

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister will be released in the UK on Sept. 22, with Earl Spencer framing it as his account of Princess Diana nearly 30 years after her 1997 death.
Spencer said a fresh wave of interview requests ahead of the anniversary pushed him to write "once and for all" to counter what he called untruths that have hardened over time.
The book aims to present Diana as he knew her — "full of love, charisma and self-doubt" — and to help both longtime admirers and younger readers understand who she really was.
Diana died aged 36 after a Paris car crash in 1997; in his funeral eulogy that year, Spencer praised her compassion and blamed media pursuit, calling her the "most hunted person of the modern age."
Penguin Michael Joseph, part of Penguin Random House, said the book contains revelations but is intended as a lasting tribute to the princess, who would have turned 65 on July 1.