Just a month ago, Princess Diana‘s youngest sibling, Charles Spencer, announced that he was releasing Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, a book that promises to “to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective.” But on Tuesday, September 15, several copies of the title, which will be released on September 22, were stolen from a truck in the Netherlands as a driver slept.
Copies of the book were being brought to a warehouse ahead of its publication date, and the driver—who had parked in the Dutch countryside and went to sleep on his way to deliver them—discovered that his truck had been broken into overnight. Despite the books being wrapped in dark plastic to disguise the title, four copies were taken from the thousands packed into the vehicle.
Dutch police are investigating the break-in incident, which was called “extremely suspicious” by a publishing industry insider. “Nothing like this has ever happened before,” the source told the Daily Mail. “This is probably the biggest book of the year and the security surrounding it has been incredibly tight.”
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Earl Spencer reads a copy of Swan Song at Althorp House, where he grew up alongside Princess Diana.
(Image credit: Earl Spencer/Instagram)
A young Charles and Diana Spencer are pictured together in 1968.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Penguin Press
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
Typically, advance copies of books are released to members of the media, bloggers and influencers, but Swan Song has been kept tightly under wraps.
As the insider noted, “Every possible precaution has been taken to prevent it from being leaked ahead of its serialization. Therefore this unprecedented incident is being taken extremely seriously.”
Earl Spencer’s book is expected to deliver multiple bombshells about the Royal Family’s reaction to Diana’s 1997 death. A publishing source noted, “Earl Spencer has kept his silence for nearly 30 years and what he has to say about the King’s reaction when Diana died is utterly devastating.”
In an Instagram post, Earl Spencer wrote that he’d recently completed recording the audiobook of Swan Song. After completing the task, he shared, “That is exactly what I wanted and needed to say – and she would, I reckon, have approved of every word.”
