Charles Spencer's book about his late sister, Princess Diana, has been making waves for the past couple of weeks, but in 2024, when he released his memoir, A Very Private School, he shared more about Diana.
Speaking with The Times ahead of the release of the book, which detailed the abuse he said he suffered while at Maidwell Hall Prep School, he opened up about how his late sister cared for him after their mother left the family home.
However, this care was hamstrung by Diana's own fear of the dark. Charles explained: "Diana looked after me because she was nearly three years older than me. She said that the worst part was hearing me cry down the hall because she was terrified of the dark and couldn’t come to me."
The Earl had a very close bond with his sister and also explained how he felt it was his duty to keep Diana grounded following her relationship with the then Prince Charles.
He said: "I remember going to a dinner soon after she'd become what she became, given by sort of friends in a private room in a restaurant in Fulham. I remember thinking, 'Crikey, they're all sucking up to her like crazy.' I realised that my job was to be absolutely solid as a brother and just remain the same.
"That was sometimes difficult, because I'd say things that people weren't saying to her in a loving way, a constructive way, and I think it was tricky for her to hear anything except how marvellous life was — but I thought that was my duty. I was her little brother. We grew up together."
Earl Spencer's latest book
Earlier this week, Charles published Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, in which he makes a series of explosive claims against King Charles, who was married to the late Princess of Wales between 1981 and 1996.
In one excerpt, the Earl claimed: "Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped. I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. 'Rest assured', he hissed, 'we’ll forget her soon enough!'" The Earl says he then hung up the phone.
© Getty Images for Invictus GamesHe also said that the monarch "sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner" when he called the Earl to tell him about Diana's death. "He let me know he had informed William and Harry of their mother’s death, first thing that morning, in their bedrooms at Balmoral," he wrote.
"It all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster. Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not."
