Earl Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana, has published an essay in The Telegraph describing what he calls a return to the "madness of 1997," according to BBC reporting. The piece draws on his memoirs and revisits the period surrounding his sister's death.
BBC's headline frames the essay as the earl's account of that year. Other outlets in the region carried related coverage of the same material, including reports attributed to Asharq Al-Awsat, which said Spencer revealed what Queen Elizabeth II offered on the day of Diana's funeral. Erem News reported that he described painful memories and disclosed details about Diana's marriage to Charles.
Separate coverage attributed to Okaz reported that four copies of Diana's memoirs went missing in the Netherlands in what was described as a mysterious theft. Al-Arabiya published a piece asking whether the world has forgotten the princess.
The BBC summary does not include the full text of the essay, so the specific claims made by Spencer beyond those headlines cannot be verified from the available material.
The timing is notable. The essay appears in mid-September 2026, close to the anniversary period in which Diana's death and funeral are annually revisited in British media.
Readers should watch for the full Telegraph essay and for any response from Buckingham Palace or from Prince William and Prince Harry, neither of which is mentioned in the reporting available so far.