Charles Spencer has been open about his own late-in-life ADHD diagnosis, and says he believes Princess Diana was also neurodivergent in his new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. Speaking to Marie Claire, the 9th Earl Spencer shares that while his sister struggled with certain aspects of royal life, he thinks potentially having ADHD actually gave her a leg up in some ways.
“I think it enhanced the natural empathy in her,” Spencer shares. “I think that’s where I see her ADHD explaining some of her extraordinary public life.”
In the book, Earl Spencer writes about how Diana had trouble concentrating or sitting still in school. Her learning difficulties were frequently pointed out by teachers, but since “such things were poorly understood in England” in the ‘60s and ‘70s, she “was never even tested,” Spencer notes.
Latest Videos FromMarie Claire
Princess Diana visits London Lighthouse, a center for people affected by HIV and AIDS, in 1996.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
People with ADHD are able to focus on their special interests intensely, and when asked if he thought Diana was able to hyperfixate on her charity work Earl Spencer replies, “I think yes, she did. I don’t know if it’s hyperfocused, but certainly she had an ability to really focus in on the minutiae of the causes that would be very challenging to a normal person from a royal heritage, if you see what I mean.”
“I think she cut through the conventional way of looking at causes to see the bits that really mattered,” he adds.
Spencer notes that getting his own diagnosis as an adult helped life “make more sense,” and he reflects on whether his sister’s story could have been different if she’d received treatment for ADHD.
“Well, all I can say about that is that having a late diagnosis for myself, I found it incredibly helpful to understand life better,” he shares. “And the reactions that you feel as an ADHD person, without explanation, can be quite overwhelming. And I think if you can just pause and think, ‘Okay, I have this neurodivergence and maybe that’s why I’m feeling this,’ I’m sure that’s helpful to most people.”
Diana walks through a minefield in Angola during a January 1997 trip to highlight the effects of landmines.
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria (RSD) is a sudden emotional pain triggered by a real or perceived rejection, and it’s something most people who have ADHD experience. When asked if he thought Diana suffered with RSD, Spencer tells Marie Claire that one area of royal life Diana particularly struggled with was the overwhelming press attention she received, especially in the late ’90s when the coverage turned negative.
“It’s interesting, actually, because I’m only using myself as an example with Diana in mind—this is not about me,” Spencer says. “But in the past, when I was slaughtered in the press for a day or a week, it felt like a bereavement, which, of course, is illogical. But it cut to the bone.”
Earl Spencer recalls that people would try to console him, but it didn’t work. “And friends would say, ‘Oh, why bother, you know…today’s newspapers, tomorrow’s fish and chip wrapping,’ which is a very English idea that, you know, it’s something that’s going to be absolutely irrelevant the next day.”
“But I think for somebody with ADHD, like Diana, to be roundly criticized in the worst sections of the media really, really hurt her very badly indeed,” he shares.
