Princess Diana made a prescient comment about funeral homes just two months before her tragic death.
In his new book, Dianaâs younger brother, Charles Spencer, recalls that on her 36th and final birthday â July 1, 1997 â a family member had sent his sister âa bouquet as a birthday gift,â and that the Princess of Wales had written to thank them, âIâve been so lucky! My house is so full of gorgeous flowers that the place looks like a funeral parlour!â
Spencer also writes about bumping into Diana at Londonâs Tate Gallery shortly after her birthday in the memoir, âSwan Song: Diana, My Sister.â
Spencer, now 62, asked his older sister if she had âhad a happy birthday, checked my gift to her had been safely received, and gave her a hug before we returned to our respective tables to eat.â
He eerily notes, âWe had only that brief chat, never to see each other againâ referencing her infamous death in a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.
In the book, Spencer looks back on writing his sisterâs eulogy just two months later following her shocking death in Parisâ Pont de lâAlma tunnel.
He recalls deciding âto include the poignancy of this final meeting in the eulogy as a reminder of how sudden and unexpected the death of a loved one can be.â
âNow here I was, just two months later, trying to write something suitable for her funeral,â he recalls in the heartbreaking tome.
In the days leading up the bookâs release on Tuesday, Spencer has fielded controversy over his claims in the book.
After notably claiming Dianaâs ex-husband, King Charles, said Diana would be forgotten âsoon enough,â the monarch himself issued a harsh statement calling Spencerâs memory into question.
âWhile we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,â a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace told Page Six.
The author also exposed what he claimed was the monarchâs âodd wishâ to walk behind Dianaâs casket at the high-profile funeral â despite their divorce three years prior to her death.
âPrince Charles was insisting that he wanted to do so,â he wrote, adding, âIt is hard to see why, given his feelings for Diana.âÂ
Spencer noted that âan ex is never expected to act as chief mourner at their former spouseâs funeralâ â but that Charles, now 77, âwas adamantâ about it.
Meanwhile, Spencer claimed, Queen Elizabeth IIâs deputy privacy secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin, said that he âmust be persuaded to walkâ alongside Charles behind the casket.
Ultimately, Princes William and Harry, then 15 and 12, walked behind the casket along with their father, grandfather Prince Philip, and uncle Spencer  from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey in the funeral procession â though Spencer wrote he didnât want Dianaâs children to walk.
That led to a confrontation with Charles, he claimed, with Charles calling him to say, âI gather youâve got a problem with the funeral arrangementsâ before allegedly directing a âstream of angerâ toward his former brother-in-law.
âSwan Song: Diana, My Sisterâ is out now.
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