The anticipated book by Charles Spencer about his late sister, Princess Diana, was stolen just days before its official release, in an incident currently under investigation by Dutch police.
On September 15, the Daily Mail revealed that four copies of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, the new memoir by 62-year-old Earl Spencer, were stolen from a truck in the Netherlands earlier this week.
Charles Spencer, Ninth Earl Spencer, holds a copy of his new memoirs (Instagram).
The truck was transporting copies of the book to a warehouse in the Netherlands for distribution when the driver parked for the night to sleep. Upon waking, he discovered that the truck had been broken into, but the thieves took only a limited number of copies, including the four by Spencer.
Dutch police are investigating the incident, with a publisher source describing the theft as “highly suspicious” given the tight security measures surrounding the book since work on it began.
The source told the Daily Mail: “Nothing like this has ever happened before. This is likely to be the biggest book of the year, and the security measures around it were extremely tight.”
They added that “every possible precaution was taken to prevent the book’s content from leaking before publication as a series,” stressing that this “unprecedented” incident is being taken “very seriously.”
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister was announced last month, marking the first time Spencer has spoken “openly” and “at length” about his late sister.
Spencer explained that his intention with the book is to present the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, as he attempted to do in his speech at her funeral.
He stated in a press release: “As with her eulogy, I want to speak on behalf of Diana and do so in a positive and candid manner.”
Spencer decided to write the book after receiving numerous requests for interviews about his sister as the 30th anniversary of her death in 1997 approaches.
He said that this interest prompted him to put down his thoughts and personal memories “once and for all,” instead of continually facing others’ opinions about Diana, noting that many are based on inaccurate information “that has become accepted over time.”
Charles Spencer, Ninth Earl Spencer, holds a copy of his new memoirs (Instagram).
On September 11, Spencer shared an image of the first copy of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, describing it as his “most personal book” to date.
He wrote on Instagram that holding the first physical copy of a new book is always an “extraordinary and thrilling moment” for an author, adding that the moment was especially poignant for him with Swan Song, which he described as “the most personal among the ten books I’ve written over the past three decades.”
He added: “At its core, this book is a simple tribute from a brother to his exceptional sister.”
Spencer noted that this sentiment was strengthened after spending three days reading the memoirs aloud to record the audiobook version.
He said: “When I finished the recording, I thought, this is precisely what I wanted and needed to say, and I think she would have agreed with every word.”
Cover of Princess Diana's brother's memoirs (Instagram).
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is set to be released by “Penguin Press” in the United States on September 22 and will be translated into 12 languages for global release.
Despite not being released yet, the book has already seen significant demand through pre-orders, making it one of the bestsellers on Amazon before its official launch.
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