Princess Diana's brother recalls 'violent' moment she pushed family member down the stairs
Earl Spencer has revealed the three 'violent outbursts' involving his sister Diana, ahead of the release of his controversial book.
Set to hit the shelves tomorrow (22 September), Swan Song: Diana, My Sister will detail the life, marriage and shock death of the then Princess of Wales, who perished in a 1997 car crash.
Speaking about the book in an interview with PEOPLE, Spencer reflects on how his sister may have had undiagnosed ADHD, tended to 'freeze' people out of her life and even reacted violently on a rare number of occasions.
Spencer explained that he'd witnessed Diana lash out physically three times throughout his life, all in what appeared to be moments of extreme frustration.
Advert
"One was slapping my father when he told her he was marrying my stepmother because that was a huge shock to us," he said, referring to his father's decision to marry Raine Spencer in 1976.
Explaining that the siblings didn't understand their father's decision to remarry as children, he continued: "We just thought he’s letting us down and you see it from all angles later in life."
Revealing the other two instances, Spencer said that his older sister had once pushed him off his bike 'for no reason' and a confrontation which concluded with Diana pushing her stepmother down the stairs.
Revealing that the incident occurred during the run-up to his first wedding in 1989, Spencer explained that Diana had believed she was standing up for her mother, whom she believed was being treated rudely by Raine.
"It was in 1989 and we’d had a family rehearsal of my first wedding and my stepmother allowed my mother into the house here, but had her taken to a separate room to everyone else so she couldn’t mix with everyone. And I think Diana thought that was so unbelievably rude," he said.
"And then Raine, my stepmother, was quite insulting to Diana and said she couldn’t believe that Prince Charles had married someone so stupid," he continued.
"I’m not saying it’s a good thing in any way to be physically violent, but it was the buildup of an enormous amount of really strong feeling and a flashpoint where I think she thought she was standing up for my mother."
Spencer's book also contains various bombshell allegations against the Royal Family, including the claim that King Charles, then Prince of Wales, had reacted 'giddily' to the news of his ex-wife's death.
In an excerpt published by the Daily Mail, Spencer recalls the phone call he shared with Charles after his sister's death, saying: "Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated - like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.
"He let me know he had informed William and Harry of their mother's death, first thing that morning, in their bedrooms at Balmoral. 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."
In another claim, Spencer alleges that he and Charles got into a verbal altercation over the decision to have William and Harry - then aged 15 and 12 - walk in their mother's public funeral procession.
“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!'”
Buckingham Palace has since issued a response to the claims, denying that the altercation took place.
"While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss," a spokesperson said of the book.
Topics: Royal Family, UK News, Celebrity
Brenna Cooper