Exclusive: Charles Spencer Says Princess Diana’s Popularity "Was Seen as Really Irksome” by the Royal Family

In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Charles Spencer shares a brother’s account of the days between Princess Diana’s death and funeral while weaving in stories of their sibling relationship. The late royal, who died in August 1997, did much to modernize the British monarchy, and the 9th Earl Spencer tells Marie Claire that her brand of star power wasn’t always welcomed.

“I think that people would be most surprised if they knew how competitive the Royal Family have always been with each other,” Spencer says. “I know it sounds mad because from the outside world they’re one brand and they should support and celebrate each other, but 30, 40 years ago, Diana’s huge popularity globally was seen as really irksome by some of the Royal Family.”

Spencer adds that some of the royals found Diana’s modern approach to be “wrong” and” in some way threatening,” even though she was adding a much-needed dose of relatability to what many saw as an outdated institution.

“I think this is really sad because I think I said it in the book, she wasn’t a problem, she was actually a protection for the Royal Family,” Spencer shares. He explains that before Diana married Prince Charles in 1981, much of the British public viewed the Royal Family as “a sort of backdrop to the nation’s silhouette” but “there was no warm connection” aside from “huge respect” for Queen Elizabeth.

“There wasn’t much more of an emotional connection than that,” he continues. “Diana brought that to the Royal Family for the first time, probably ever.” With her unique ability to connect with people from all walks of life, the late princess gave the monarchy “an injection of relevance and glamour,” Spencer says.

“For many people before Diana came along, the Royal Family was a totally acceptable, benign relic from the past, and relics from the past can soon lose all relevance,” he notes.

Spencer shares that there was an element of jealousy within the Royal Family about “this incomer who’s hijacking the headlines,” but the competitiveness also extended to members of the royal household—or the men in gray suits, as Diana called them.

In Swan Song, Spencer writes about how Diana was "wary of any form of palace advice" since she viewed courtiers as prioritizing the interests of blood royals over "the people who dared to marry into it."

After being asked about how that culture continues today when members of the Royal Family have competing events, Spencer shares that there's an element of behind-the-scenes maneuvering. “There is an incomprehensible mixture here of—it’s not just members of the Royal Family that get caught up in this. It’s their teams.”

“The more I push my principle, the better it is for me and my career,” he says of royal aides. “It’s office politics. That’s what it is.”