Charles Spencer has released his memoir, Swan Song, revealing that Princess Diana once asked him if she would make a good American first lady after an aging politician courted her. Spencer, Diana's younger brother, stated that the politician, described as a "powerful aging American suitor," told Diana he was certain to win the presidency if she married him. While Spencer said Diana was more interested in the prospect of living in the White House than in marrying the man, he noted she viewed the role as a way to reinvent herself and surpass the glamour of the Jackie Kennedy years.
The book, published this week, offers new details about Diana's life behind palace walls, including her relationship with then-Prince Charles. Spencer wrote that on the morning of Diana's death in Paris, Charles sounded "giddily elated" and "strangely matter-of-fact." He claimed Charles told him, "Rest assured … we'll forget her soon enough!" Spencer interpreted this reaction as Charles feeling freed to marry the woman he loved, rather than mourning Diana. Buckingham Palace responded with a rare statement, noting that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason and affect judgment.
Spencer also detailed Diana's plans after her divorce from Charles. He wrote that after falling for heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan, Diana dreamed of moving to South Africa, where Spencer lived, because England had become "intolerable" to her. She hoped Khan could work at a hospital in Cape Town and that they could live a normal life near their family. Spencer described this move as offering "the possibility of asylum." The memoir also touches on the infamous Panorama interview with Martin Bashir. Spencer said Diana almost canceled the interview after Bashir allegedly told her falsehoods, including claims about MI6 surveillance and Prince William bugging her. He wrote that Bashir and the show's producer persuaded Diana in a clandestine meeting that her life was in imminent danger.
Further revelations include Charles complaining to Spencer that Queen Elizabeth treated him like a child despite his age and responsibilities. Spencer recounted that when a courtier reported Charles resented a reprimand from the queen, she dismissed it, saying, "He even resented it when I taught him the alphabet." The book also mentions a story Diana told Spencer early in her marriage: that the queen once considered having Charles' ears pinned back due to teasing at school, a plan Prince Philip stopped. Spencer added that when Diana first announced her plan to divorce Charles, she claimed the prince was "in love with his valet," a claim Spencer found improbable but did not press further.
The memoir provides personal insights into Diana's character, noting her love for forget-me-nots, the Beatles, David Bowie, and romance novels by Barbara Cartland. It mentions she watched The Sound of Music 16 times. The book was released nearly a year before the 30th anniversary of Diana's death on Aug. 31, 1997. Buckingham Palace told Fox News Digital it would not offer further comment.