Charles Spencer has acknowledged that he "probably could" have done more to support his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, during the years when she was struggling with relentless media scrutiny and the pressures surrounding her public life.
The 9th Earl Spencer, 62, made the admission in an interview with PEOPLE magazine at Althorp, the Spencer family estate in Northamptonshire. The interview, published Sept. 25, accompanies his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, and represents his most extensive public account of their relationship in nearly three decades.
Asked whether he believed he could have helped Diana more during her final years, Spencer said he "probably could" have. The comment adds a note of personal regret to a book in which he revisits some of the most contested and painful episodes surrounding his sister's life and death.
Spencer said he did try to help Diana behind the scenes, particularly when she became embroiled in disputes with the British press. He described himself as someone who "would fight some battles for her quietly," drawing on his own experience dealing with newspapers and legal complaints.
He said that assistance included helping Diana pursue what he described as "a big libel case" against a British newspaper. Spencer did not suggest that those interventions resolved the broader pressures she faced, but he portrayed them as examples of the support he tried to provide privately.
The memoir also returns to a long-running claim that Spencer refused Diana a home at Althorp after her 1996 divorce from the then Prince Charles. Spencer disputes that account and says his decision was driven by security concerns rather than unwillingness to help his sister.
According to Spencer, Diana asked whether she could live in the Garden House at the rear of the estate, a property she knew well because their sister Jane had once lived there with her children. Spencer said he visited the house with local police officers, who advised him that the property could not be adequately secured for Diana's sons, Princes William and Harry.
He has presented that assessment as the reason Diana did not move into the property. Diana instead continued living at Kensington Palace after the divorce.
Swan Song also contains Spencer's account of tense discussions surrounding Diana's funeral in September 1997. He describes a confrontation with the then Prince Charles over whether William and Harry should walk behind their mother's coffin, one of several episodes from the book that has attracted renewed attention.
Spencer also recounts what he says happened in the hours after Diana died in a Paris car crash in August 1997. Buckingham Palace has challenged parts of his recollection, saying King Charles was "mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss."
The memoir has generated controversy beyond the royal family. Spencer recently apologized to broadcaster Piers Morgan over a passage concerning intrusive photographs of Diana after Morgan threatened legal action.
Spencer acknowledged an "incorrect assumption" in the book after it was pointed out that Morgan was not editor of the Daily Mirror when photographs cited in the memoir were published in 1993. Morgan has said he still intends to pursue legal proceedings.
Spencer has said the approaching 30th anniversary of Diana's death in 2027 helped persuade him to publish the memoir. He said the milestone had already prompted a surge of interview requests from people seeking his reflections on his sister's life and legacy.
Rather than continue responding individually, Spencer said he decided to set out his memories in his own words. He has also said he deliberately avoided reading many outside accounts about Diana because he believes some contain "untruths."
