Spencer said he believes he could have done more to help her manage the intense attention surrounding her public life
Charles Spencer has revealed the one thing he wishes he had done differently for his late sister, Princess Diana, nearly 30 years after her death.
The 9th Earl Spencer opened up about his relationship with Diana in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, published as he promotes his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. Looking back on Diana’s final years, Spencer said he believes he could have done more to help her manage the intense attention surrounding her public life.
“Could I have done more to help her with her public life? I probably could,” Spencer told PEOPLE. He explained that he did support Diana in some ways towards the end of her life, including helping her with a major libel case against a British newspaper and quietly fighting some battles on her behalf.
Spencer’s reflection comes as he speaks openly about his sister for the first time in decades. His memoir revisits their childhood, their complicated family history, Diana’s marriage and divorce from then-Prince Charles, and the events surrounding her death in August 1997.
The memoir has also prompted Spencer to address a longstanding claim about his relationship with Diana. He pushed back against suggestions that he refused to give his sister a home at Althorp after her 1996 divorce.
According to Spencer, Diana had asked to live at the Garden House on the Althorp estate, where their sister Jane Fellowes had previously lived with her children. Spencer said he wanted to clarify that security concerns prevented Diana and her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, from living there.
“The local police went around there with me and they said, they just couldn’t protect William and Harry,” Spencer said. “She could not have lived at the Garden House. It was not a viable option.”
Diana instead remained at Kensington Palace following her divorce and lived there with William and Harry until her death in a car crash on August 31, 1997. Spencer later delivered her eulogy at Westminster Abbey, where he publicly honoured his sister and criticised the intense media attention she had faced.
Now, as the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death approaches in 2027, Spencer says writing Swan Song gave him an opportunity to tell his version of their relationship and preserve his memories of his sister. The memoir was released on September 22, 2026.
