Penguin Random House publishers in numerous countries around the world will simultaneously publish “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” on September 22. According to Penguin Random House, Charles Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, who died on August 31, 1997, tells the story of his sister’s life from his perspective.
The 384-page English edition of “Swan Song” will be published by Penguin Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK. Publisher Daniel Bunyard acquired world all-language rights from Charles Spencer’s literary agent Caroline Michel. Penguin Press will publish the book in the US and Canada, while Penguin Random House publishers will also release “Swan Song” in English in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, and Ireland. According to Penguin Random House, the book will be translated into a total of twelve languages and will also be published by Penguin Random House publishers in several countries, including Penguin in Germany, Companhia das Letras in Brazil, Penguin in Portugal, and Plaza & Janés in Spain and Latin America.
The book will be released in hardcover and as an e-book, with sister companies in many markets also publishing audiobook editions. In other countries where Penguin Random House does not have a presence, rights have been acquired by other publishers, including in Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, and Sweden.
‘Telling the truth about Diana’
In September 1997, Charles Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey before a watching world and shared his grief at losing his beloved sister, Diana, in a moving eulogy. Now, nearly 30 years later, he tells the story of his life with Diana and of the tragic week of her death. “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” marks the first time that Earl Spencer has spoken openly and at length about his sister.
Earl Spencer says: “With the 30th anniversary of Diana’s tragic death on the skyline, I’ve been inundated yet again with requests for interviews about my sister. This has convinced me to write down my own thoughts and memories, once and for all, rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others, many of which are based on untruths that have become accepted over time. The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral. As with my eulogy, I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way.”
‘A one-off, dynamic character’
Charles Spencer continues: “I hope this book will be of interest to the many who still cherish the memory of Diana when she was alive, and I would be delighted if those too young to remember her in her heyday feel – after reading this – that they ‘get’ who she really was: 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, despite exiting the stage while still so young.”
Daniel Bunyard, Publisher at Penguin Michael Joseph, says: “This is a book of historic importance, telling as it does the story of one of the twentieth century’s most iconic and culturally significant figures, but it is also utterly unique in being written by Earl Spencer, from a vantage point of such intimacy. It is extraordinarily moving, beautifully written and remarkably candid, in no small part due to Charles’s rare ability to access great emotional depth without sentimentality, honest observation without rancour, and warmth without gloss. For the first time, but also for all time, readers will find here a fitting tribute to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.”
A bestselling author and historian
Charles Spencer is an author, historian, public speaker, broadcaster, and journalist. He is also the 9th Earl Spencer. Spencer is the author of nine books, including four “Sunday Times” bestsellers: “The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream,” “Blenheim: Battle for Europe” (shortlisted for History Book of the Year at the National Book Awards), “Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I,” and “To Catch a King: Charles II’s Great Escape.” His first volume of memoirs is the critically acclaimed No. 1 “Sunday Times” bestseller “A Very Private School.”
An internationally sought-after keynote speaker, Charles Spencer worked for NBC News as an on-air correspondent from 1986 to 1995. He has presented programs for the History Channel, was a co-host of the hit “Rabbit Hole Detectives” podcast, and has written for many newspapers and magazines. He is also a columnist for the “Financial Times.” Spencer was educated at Eton College and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he obtained his MA in Modern History. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries and a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society.
