Source Details

{
    "source_type": "extension",
    "content_hash": "60b7c3fcd1d7409dab02850c6471b4b29f752890f68b63f462639a0a124f56f7",
    "submitted_via": "chrome_extension",
    "extension_version": "1.0.18",
    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/22\/books\/review\/takeaways-charles-spencer-memoir-diana.html?emc=edit_na_20260922&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=226882",
    "parsed_content": "What to ReadFind Your Next BookFantasyScience FictionThrillersRomanceAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u2018My Husband Is in Love With His Valet\u2019: Takeaways From Charles Spencer\u2019s MemoirNearly 30 years after Princess Diana died, her brother has written a book about her life, her marriage to Prince Charles and the suffering she endured at the hands of the tabloid press.Share full articleCredit...Keith Butcher\/ShutterstockBy The Book ReviewSept. 22, 2026Updated 10:43 a.m. ETSee more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google \u201cSwan Song\u201d weaves Charles Spencer\u2019s early memories of Princess Diana with the planning and execution of her funeral service. In the introduction, Spencer says that \u201cthe aim of the book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother\u2019s perspective,\u201d just as he did during her fiery eulogy. With the 30th anniversary of her death looming, he writes, \u201cI thought, You know what? \u2026 I am going to tell things how I remember them, lay them down for good, once and for all.\u201dDiana was always a \u201cwarrior\u201dSpencer, younger than Diana by three years, tells many affecting tales of his sister\u2019s bravery. The one that stands out is the day the two of them, along with their mother, were checking their lobster pots off the coast of Scotland when one of them yielded a nasty surprise: a \u201clithe, black, muscular conger eel, which was around four feet long and as thick as my arm,\u201d Spencer writes. As it thrashed about their boat, gnashing its sharp teeth, he and his mother cowered while Diana grabbed a penknife \u201cand brought its point down hard behind the eel\u2019s eyes.\u201d (Spencer considered telling this story at Diana\u2019s funeral but thought better of it.)She was outraged by her father\u2019s second marriageSpencer writes that Diana, who was 7 when their parents divorced, discovered that their father had married Raine, the former Countess of Dartmouth \u2014 whom the children all detested \u2014 by reading an article in the newspaper. \u201cDiana was so disappointed and outraged by my father\u2019s secret marriage that she slapped him across the face \u2014 the only time she physically clashed with either parent,\u201d Spencer writes, \u201cwhile saying, on behalf of Sarah, Jane and me, \u2018That\u2019s for the pain you\u2019re causing us all.\u2019\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe paparazzi began hounding her earlyNot long after she began dating Prince Charles, Diana, 19, showed up at Eton \u2014 as she often did \u2014 to take her little brother to lunch. Spencer writes that he caught sight of her red Mini Metro from his window with \u201ca dozen strange cars and a motorbike in tow. \u2026 Diana parked carefully outside my house, while the strangers\u2019 vehicles slewed to a halt haphazardly in the middle of the street, their ignitions still on, disgorging men \u2014 some alone, others in pairs \u2014 who converged on her like hyenas closing in on a gazelle.\u201dPrince Charles was often callous and cruelAccording to Spencer, shortly after their engagement, Prince Charles squeezed Diana\u2019s waist and said, \u201cOh, a bit chubby here, aren\u2019t we?\u201d Spencer also writes that he learned from a friend of Diana\u2019s that, the day before their wedding, Prince Charles told her \u201cthat she needed to know that he was very happy to marry her, but he was not actually in love with her.\u201d Later, Spencer writes, he was visiting his sister at Kensington Palace when the thump of her disco music led Prince Charles to scream, \u201cGet her to turn off that infernal racket!\u201dAnd resented his parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince PhilipWhen Spencer\u2019s father died in 1992, Prince Charles came to Althorp with Diana for the funeral. According to Spencer, the prince said to him, \u201cYou\u2019re just so lucky \u2014 you know, inheriting when you\u2019re so young!\u201d He added, \u201cI\u2019m 43, and I employ 50 people \u2026 but my parents insist on treating me like \u2014 like a child!\u201dDiana once shoved her stepmother down a staircaseDuring a tea at Althorp, the Spencers\u2019 ancestral family home, their stepmother Raine was rude to their mother, Frances Shand Kydd. \u201cWhen Diana discovered this, she confronted Raine with incredulity. \u2026 \u2018Do you really have no idea how to behave?\u2019\u201d Raine shot back, \u201cI have always felt so very sorry for the Prince of Wales, marrying someone quite as stupid as you.\u201d Spencer writes that \u201cDiana paused for a second, surprised at the intensity of the spite. She then took a step forward, hooked a long leg round Raine\u2019s calves before shoving her down the carpeted staircase.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThe end of Charles and Diana\u2019s marriageSpencer writes that over lunch at her favorite London restaurant, Diana told him, \u201cI\u2019m going to get divorced,\u201d adding, \u201cMy husband is in love with his valet.\u201d Diana, Spencer says, \u201cdid not name the member of staff, and I never asked her who it was, or why she would believe such an improbable thing. It was not important: The end of her marriage, and of her dreams, was.\u201dDiana could hold a grudgeSpencer is frank about the ups and downs of his relationship with his sister. \u201cThe astonishing pressures of her life, and her reactive nature, saw her fall out with each of us regularly,\u201d Spencer writes. \u201cShe was on non-speaks with two of our closest relatives for months before her death, over not very much at all.\u201dSpencer uninvited the tabloid editors to Diana\u2019s funeralWhen Spencer learned that the palace had extended funeral invitations to Fleet Street editors, he placed calls to all of them, asking them to stay home. \u201cThey were unable to be rude to the brother of the much-mourned princess and, although clearly highly surprised by my call, they each agreed not to come,\u201d Spencer writes. \u201cThe only one who sounded surly, as opposed to merely confused or embarrassed, was Piers Morgan of The Mirror, who snarled with annoyance before he hung up.\u201dHis famously blistering eulogy almost didn\u2019t happenAt the rehearsal the day before the funeral, Spencer realized with a start that he had, in effect, walked into an ambush, that the assembled courtiers were there to vet his eulogy. Bluffing his way out of the situation, he told them: \u201cGod, I\u2019m stupid! \u2026 In all the excitement of getting here on time, I\u2019ve only gone and left my speech at home!\u201dToo little, too lateWhen Diana\u2019s service at Westminster Abbey concluded, Spencer writes, he got on the royal train headed back to Althorp for her burial, where his brother-in-law Robert Fellowes \u2014 Queen Elizabeth\u2019s private secretary \u2014 told him that the monarch, who had stripped Diana of her royal titles after the divorce, had offered to reinstate them. Spencer replied: \u201cThat\u2019s very kind of the queen, of course. But what\u2019s the point, Robert? Now? I mean \u2014 Diana\u2019s dead.\u201dSwan Song Save to your reading list:Want to readHave readAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-22T04:01:05+00:00",
    "author_name": "The Book Review",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
    "section": "Books",
    "publisher": "The New York Times Company",
    "ai_headline": "\u2018My Husband Is in Love With His Valet\u2019: Takeaways From Charles Spencer\u2019s Memoir",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Charles Spencer Memoir Reveals Diana's Life and Marriage",
    "ai_excerpt": "Princess Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, has written a memoir, \"Swan Song,\" detailing her life, marriage to Prince Charles, and struggles with the press. The book aims to tell Diana's truth from her brother's perspective, nearly 30 years after her death.",
    "ai_subject_tags": [
        "Princess Diana",
        "Charles Spencer",
        "Memoir",
        "British Royal Family",
        "Biography",
        "Tabloid Press",
        "Marriage"
    ],
    "ai_context_type": "Review",
    "ai_context_details": {
        "tone": "informative",
        "perspective": "neutral",
        "audience": "general",
        "credibility_indicators": [
            "expert_quotes"
        ]
    },
    "ai_source_vector": null,
    "ai_confidence_score": 0.9999999999999999,
    "ai_extraction_metadata": {
        "extracted_at": "2026-10-01T12:07:43.571548Z",
        "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
        "extraction_method": "automated",
        "content_length": 7054,
        "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 7054,
        "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
        "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/22\/books\/review\/takeaways-charles-spencer-memoir-diana.html",
        "existing_metadata": {
            "author_name": null,
            "published_at": null,
            "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
            "site_name": null,
            "section": null,
            "publisher": null
        },
        "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
    }
}

{
    "extracted_at": "2026-10-01T12:07:43.571548Z",
    "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
    "extraction_method": "automated",
    "content_length": 7054,
    "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 7054,
    "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
    "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/22\/books\/review\/takeaways-charles-spencer-memoir-diana.html",
    "existing_metadata": {
        "author_name": null,
        "published_at": null,
        "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
        "site_name": null,
        "section": null,
        "publisher": null
    },
    "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
}