Charles Spencer (62), brother of the late Princess Diana, has announced he will publish a book about his sister as the 30th anniversary of her death approaches.

The Earl Spencer said he wants to “tell the truth” about Diana from his perspective, marking the first time he has spoken openly and at length about her life and death.

Book to counter ‘untruths’

“Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” will be released on 22 September and translated into 12 languages, publisher Penguin Random House confirmed on Tuesday.

Spencer said he had been “inundated yet again” with interview requests as the anniversary nears, prompting him to write down his thoughts and memories “once and for all”.

“I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way,” he said, adding that many opinions about his sister were “based on untruths that have become accepted over time”.

From funeral eulogy to published memoir

After Diana died in a Paris car crash in August 1997, Spencer delivered an emotional eulogy at her funeral in Westminster Abbey, vowing to always protect her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.

Three decades later, the royal family landscape has shifted dramatically. William is now heir to the throne, whilst Harry and his brother are no longer speaking following a major family rift.

Diana’s former husband is now King Charles III, married to Queen Camilla, his former mistress whom Diana blamed for the breakdown of her marriage.

Family ties remain

Spencer has maintained close relationships with both princes. Harry, his wife Meghan and their two children reportedly visited the earl’s ancestral home at Althorp in central England in early July, where they are believed to have visited Diana’s grave.

The book aims to appeal to those who “cherish” Diana’s memory as well as younger generations “too young to remember her in her heyday”, Spencer said.

He wants readers to see her as “a one-off, dynamic character, full of love, charisma and self-doubt, who gave life a hell of a go, and left the world a far better place”.

Publisher Daniel Bunyard described it as “a book of historic importance” about “one of the twentieth century’s most iconic and culturally significant figures”.