Swan Song: Diana, my sister

Beautiful. Beloved. Hunted. The extraordinary life and death of Diana, as told by her brother, Charles.

“When asked, ‘What was it like, growing up with Diana?’, my first thought is always, But I don’t know what it was like not to grow up with her…”

In September 1997, Charles Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey before a watching world and shared his grief at losing his beloved sister, Diana. Now, nearly thirty years later, he tells the astonishing story of his life with Diana and the tragic week of her death.

In childhood, Charles and Diana, the youngest Spencers, were inseparable – secretly calling one another Duch and Carlos. As each other’s closest confidantes, they roamed the family estate, endured extremely challenging boarding schools, survived terrifying nannies, and helped each other through the agony of their parents’ divorce.

Yet everything changed when Diana married the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, and overnight became a global icon. Charles saw his older sister serve the world’s marginalized and relish being mother to her treasured sons.

But, pursued by a barbaric press as her royal marriage crumbled, she was left desperately alone. Charles always tried to be there for Diana – until that black night in August, 1997.

In Swan Song, Charles Spencer provides the most intimate, loving, and honest portrait yet of his sister.

Charles Spencer is an author, historian, public speaker, broadcaster and journalist. He is also the 9th Earl Spencer.

Charles Spencer is the author of seven non-fiction books, including three Sunday Times bestsellers: Blenheim, Battle for Europe, which was shortlisted for Historical Book of the Year at the 2005 National Book Awards; Killers of the King – which was the second highest selling History book in the UK in 2014; and The White Ship, the No. 1 bestseller on Amazon.

He has been the keynote speaker at hundreds of events in the UK, India, USA, South Africa, France, Australia, Canada, Spain, Portugal and New Zealand.

As a broadcaster, Charles Spencer worked for NBC News as an on-air correspondent from 1986 to 1995. He has been a reporter for Granada Television, has presented for the History Channel, and has appeared on many occasions as an expert on the BBC.

As a print journalist he has written in the UK for The Guardian, The Independent on Sunday, The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, and others. In the United States he has written for Vanity Fair, Veranda, and Nest magazines.

Charles Spencer was educated at Eton, and at Oxford University, where he earned his MA in Modern History.

Most recently, Charles Spencer has enjoyed success with ‘The Rabbit Hole Detectives’, – his new podcast presented alongside Dr Cat Jarman, and the Rev. Richard Coles – which takes listeners on a fascinating dive into the origins of real and symbolic historical objects.

You can learn more about Charles Spencer’s family seat at Althorp, via Spencer1508.com, an online platform which shines a light on the 500 year old story of the Estate, and the Spencer Family.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-rabbit-hole-detectives/id1671879772

https://spencer1508.com/

“Top marks for its searing frankness, framed in wistfully beautiful prose.” —The Times

“Acutely observant, his turn of phrase is often delightful.” —Daily Telegraph

“A moving, heartbreaking memoir.” —Financial Times

“A tour de force.” —Washington Post