Diana Legacy Update —
There is a meaningful new development today: the dispute over Swan Song has widened from Spencer's confrontation with Buckingham Palace into a direct challenge from Paul Burrell, Diana's former butler, concerning both Spencer's account of Diana's final years and his description of King Charles's reaction to her death.
1. Paul Burrell is now directly challenging Spencer
Burrell, who worked for Diana, says Charles Spencer "barely spoke" to Diana during the final years of her life and was "not part of her world." He argues that Spencer's memoir gives an incomplete picture of Diana's final years.
More importantly, Burrell says he personally saw then-Prince Charles after Diana's death in Paris and remembers him as devastated, pale and visibly distressed. Burrell says Charles entered a room with Diana's sisters and emerged with bloodshot eyes, apparently having been crying.
That directly conflicts with Spencer's description of Charles sounding "giddily elated" during a telephone conversation after Diana's death.
Evidence status: Burrell's observation is a first-hand recollection, but it does not independently establish what Charles said during his separate telephone call with Spencer.
2. Burrell's intervention changes the historical debate
Until now, the central conflict was:
Charles Spencer ↔ Buckingham Palace
It is now becoming:
Charles Spencer ↔ Buckingham Palace ↔ Diana's former household
That matters because Burrell isn't simply a royal commentator. He was part of Diana's personal household and says he witnessed Charles's condition after the death.
But Burrell also has his own history with Diana and the Royal Family, so his testimony should be evaluated as another participant recollection, not automatically treated as definitive.
3. Spencer's account of Diana's final years is itself being challenged
Burrell says Spencer's relationship with Diana during her last years was much less close than the memoir suggests. He claims the siblings "barely spoke" and recalls Diana complaining about members of her own family.
This is particularly significant because Swan Song is explicitly presented as Diana's story from her brother's intimate perspective.
If Burrell's account is accurate, it raises a larger historical question:
How much of Diana's final five years can Spencer legitimately reconstruct from personal memory if he was not regularly present in her life?
That does not invalidate his childhood memories or his accounts of particular conversations. It does, however, reinforce the need to distinguish direct observation from retrospective reconstruction.
4. The memoir is receiving substantial international attention
The Los Angeles Times published a fresh five-point analysis today, highlighting Spencer's account of the press's pursuit of Diana, her eating disorders, her suspicions about Charles's relationship with another person, his belief that Diana may have had undiagnosed ADHD, and his private reading of the funeral eulogy beside her coffin.
One particularly important element is Spencer's account of media intrusion.
He describes the early paparazzi pursuit of Diana as extraordinarily aggressive and says William remembered much of his mother's distress as being connected to press intrusion.
This keeps the story from becoming merely a Charles-versus-Spencer family dispute.
It returns us to one of the central questions of Diana's legacy:
Did the British media help create the phenomenon that eventually became impossible to control?
5. Spencer's account of Diana's eating disorder adds a different dimension
Spencer writes extensively about Diana's anorexia and bulimia and expresses regret that he did not understand how serious her struggles had become. The Los Angeles Times notes that he describes her weight falling to approximately 119 pounds at one point and says she found it easier to discuss anorexia with him than bulimia.
The important distinction is:
Diana's eating disorder is well documented.
Spencer's description of how she experienced it and what she told him is memoir testimony.
And claims about what caused it remain much more difficult to establish.
This is another reason the memoir should be read as a primary source rather than a definitive medical or historical account.
6. William's alleged private reaction needs caution
There are new reports today claiming that Prince William is distressed by the reopening of old wounds and wants the controversy to end.
However, these reports rely on anonymous sources and should not be treated as confirmed statements from William.
What is actually established is simpler:
William has not publicly endorsed Spencer's allegations.
William has not publicly attacked the memoir.
He and Harry have both avoided substantive public comment when asked about it.
So I would not currently report that "William is angry with Spencer" as fact.
The more defensible formulation is:
Reports claim William is uncomfortable with the renewed controversy, but he has not publicly commented on the memoir.
7. Buckingham Palace remains silent after its initial intervention
I found no new substantive Palace statement today addressing Spencer's latest interviews or Burrell's intervention.
The official Royal Family website's current press-release archive also does not show a new statement concerning Swan Song.
That is significant.
The Palace appears to be allowing its original statement—saying grief can affect memory—to stand rather than engaging in an ongoing public argument with Spencer.
So the institutional position remains:
Question Spencer's recollection without conducting a public point-by-point rebuttal.
8. The official royal narrative remains focused on Diana's public service
The Royal Family's official Diana biography continues to emphasize her charitable and humanitarian work rather than the present family controversy. It records her work with children, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, disability and other causes.
This is an important contrast with the current media cycle.
Spencer's memoir:
Marriage → conflict → eating disorder → Royal Family → media → death → funeral
Official royal biography:
Family → public service → charitable work → humanitarian causes → legacy
The difference tells us something about the competing ways Diana's memory is being constructed.
9. The British media are increasingly questioning the memoir itself
The controversy over the Piers Morgan error has not disappeared.
Spencer acknowledged that he incorrectly linked Morgan to the publication of intrusive photographs of Diana in 1993. Morgan was working at The Sun at the time and did not join the Daily Mirror until 1995. Spencer has apologized and says the error will be corrected in later editions.
Morgan says he intends to continue legal action despite the apology.
That dispute is increasingly being used by commentators to question how carefully the memoir was fact-checked.
Again, though:
One demonstrable error does not prove every other claim is false.
It does mean readers should demand stronger corroboration for claims that cannot otherwise be verified.
10. International reaction is moving beyond the Palace controversy
The Wall Street Journal is framing the story more broadly: Diana's legacy continues to exert pressure on the monarchy nearly three decades after her death, with the Spencer memoir reopening unresolved questions surrounding King Charles and the Royal Family.
The Los Angeles Times is placing greater emphasis on Diana's personal struggles and the media environment surrounding her.
That difference is revealing:
American coverage: Diana's personal story and the enduring cultural significance of her life.
British coverage: Spencer versus Palace, accuracy and family conflict.
Australian/international coverage: the factual dispute, Piers Morgan controversy and royal-family ramifications.
The story is therefore developing differently depending on the audience.
11. A significant new question: Did Spencer know Diana as well as the memoir implies?
This is now one of the most interesting questions emerging from today's reporting.
Spencer clearly knew Diana extremely well during childhood and earlier adulthood.
But Burrell's claim that the siblings "barely spoke" in Diana's final years creates a challenge to the memoir's authority over the last phase of her life.
That doesn't mean Spencer didn't know important things.
People can maintain intimate knowledge through intermittent contact.
But historians should now distinguish:
Spencer's direct memories
What Diana told him.
What he personally witnessed.
What happened between them.
Spencer's reconstruction
What he believes Diana felt.
Why she behaved a certain way.
What Charles was thinking.
What Palace officials intended.
Those second-category claims require considerably more corroboration.
12. The "who owns Diana's legacy?" question is becoming even more important
We now have several competing custodians.
Charles Spencer
→ Diana as sister and private person.
Paul Burrell
→ Diana as the woman he served and knew privately.
Buckingham Palace
→ Diana as former Princess of Wales and mother of William and Harry.
William and Harry
→ Diana as their mother.
British journalists
→ Diana as the most consequential royal-media story of the modern era.
International audiences
→ Diana as a global humanitarian and cultural icon.
And Diana's own documented public work:
→ Diana as a humanitarian.
Today's evidence map
| New development | Status |
|---|---|
| Burrell says Charles appeared devastated after Diana's death | First-hand recollection; disputed by implication, not independently proven |
| Burrell says Spencer barely spoke to Diana in her final years | Burrell's claim; requires corroboration |
| Spencer continues to stand by his account | Verified statement by Spencer |
| Palace issued a new rebuttal today | No new substantive statement found |
| William publicly rejected Spencer | No |
| Harry publicly endorsed Spencer's allegations | No |
| Spencer's Piers Morgan error | Acknowledged factual error |
| Morgan's legal action | Ongoing/reported |
| International interest in the memoir | Clearly documented |
| Diana's humanitarian legacy remains part of official royal narrative | Verified |
Bottom line —
The story has changed.
It is no longer primarily a question of whether Charles Spencer versus Buckingham Palace is telling the truth.
It has become a much broader historical dispute over memory, proximity and evidence.
Spencer says:
I was Diana's brother and I remember what happened.
The Palace effectively says:
Your grief may have affected your memory.
Burrell now says:
I was there too—and what I witnessed does not match Spencer's description.
Meanwhile, the wider historical record tells us something neither side can completely own:
Diana was simultaneously a member of the Royal Family, a global celebrity, a sister, a mother and a humanitarian.
The danger is that the current fight over Swan Song could reduce her legacy once again to Charles, Camilla, Spencer, Palace intrigue and the press.
The more historically consequential question remains what Diana herself left behind—and whether the world remembers the woman and her humanitarian work, rather than only the tragedy surrounding her death.
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