Earl Spencer’s new memoir reveals an extraordinary offer made on the day of Princess Diana’s funeral — while other claims in the book have already drawn a rare response from the Palace.
A remarkable new account from Earl Spencer claims that Queen Elizabeth II offered to restore Princess Diana’s Her Royal Highness (HRH) status shortly after her death.
According to Charles Spencer, Diana’s younger brother, the proposal was made on the day of her funeral in September 1997 — roughly a year after Diana had lost the title following her divorce from Prince Charles.
The revelation appears in Spencer’s memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which offers his personal recollections of Diana’s life, marriage and the turbulent period surrounding her death.
An Unexpected Message From The Queen
Spencer recalls travelling aboard the Royal Train toward Althorp, the Spencer family estate in Northamptonshire, where Diana was to be privately buried.
During the journey, Robert Fellowes — then the Queen’s Private Secretary as well as Spencer’s brother-in-law — reportedly pulled him aside.
Fellowes informed Spencer that he had received a message from Queen Elizabeth.
The monarch, according to Spencer’s account, wanted to return Diana’s HRH title.
It was an extraordinary gesture, particularly because Diana had lost the status after her divorce from Charles in August 1996 and had subsequently been known as Diana, Princess of Wales.
But Spencer decided against accepting the offer.
Spencer Says The Gesture Came Too Late
In his memoir, Spencer describes how deeply he believed Diana had been affected by losing her royal status while she was alive.
Although he viewed the Queen’s reported offer as well-intentioned, he questioned what restoring the title could accomplish after Diana’s death.
For Spencer, the central issue was that Diana no longer had the opportunity to benefit from having the status restored.
Years later, however, he admits that he reconsidered his decision and wondered whether there might have been symbolic meaning in allowing the HRH designation to appear on Diana’s tombstone.
Even so, he ultimately maintains that the title should not have been taken from Diana during her lifetime in the first place.
The Memoir Goes Far Beyond Diana’s Royal Title
The HRH revelation is only one of several striking claims contained in Spencer’s account of his sister’s life.
His memoir revisits Diana’s relationship with Charles and provides Spencer’s perspective on a marriage that became one of the most closely followed royal relationships in modern history.
Among the claims described in the book is Spencer’s account that Diana had doubts about marrying Charles before their 1981 wedding.
According to Spencer, Diana told their father about a month before the ceremony that she felt unable to go through with the marriage.
Their father reportedly told her that withdrawing at such a late stage was no longer realistic.
Spencer also writes that he later learned Diana had confided to a friend that Charles told her shortly before their wedding that he was happy to marry her but was not in love with her.
The memoir portrays Diana as experiencing profound unhappiness during parts of her marriage.
A Serious Dispute Over Another Claim
One of the most controversial parts of Spencer’s memoir concerns what he says happened following Diana’s death.
Spencer alleges that Charles made a deeply insensitive remark about Diana only days after the fatal Paris car crash.
That account has been strongly disputed.
Buckingham Palace issued an unusually direct response, questioning the accuracy of Spencer’s recollection and suggesting that intense grief can affect memory and judgment.
A royal aide subsequently described the allegation to the BBC as untrue.
Julian Payne, who previously served as Charles’s communications secretary, has also offered a very different picture of the King’s attitude toward Diana’s legacy.
Payne said that during his years working for Charles, including around the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death, Charles made it clear that staff were expected to respect Diana’s memory and avoid undermining her.
The competing accounts have created a highly public disagreement over events that occurred nearly three decades ago.
Spencer Explains Why He Chose To Write The Book
With the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death approaching in 2027, Spencer has said he wanted to put his own memories and reflections into writing rather than continue reading other people’s interpretations of his sister’s life.
His memoir therefore presents events through the perspective of Diana’s brother — someone who knew her long before she entered royal life and who famously delivered a powerful eulogy at her funeral.
The book also revisits Diana’s marriage, her relationship with her family and the enormous pressures surrounding her position as Princess of Wales.
Prince Harry was reportedly aware that his uncle was preparing the memoir, although reports say he had not read the book or been briefed on its most controversial claims.
A Decision Spencer Would Revisit Years Later
Perhaps one of the most poignant elements of Spencer’s account is his uncertainty over the decision he made aboard the Royal Train.
At the time, returning Diana’s HRH title after her death appeared to him to have little practical meaning.
But with the passing of the years, he says he wondered whether accepting the Queen’s offer might at least have carried symbolic significance.
Still, his broader view appears unchanged: if Diana deserved the title, he believes she should have been allowed to retain it while she was alive.
That reported offer from Queen Elizabeth — arriving only hours after millions had watched Diana’s funeral — now adds another chapter to the complicated history surrounding Diana, the monarchy and the legacy she left behind.
