A handful of copies of Earl Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about his sister were taken from a lorry parked overnight in the Dutch countryside, just days before the book’s worldwide publication and its exclusive serialisation in the Daily Mail.
Several copies of Earl Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, have been stolen from a lorry in the Netherlands, days before its scheduled worldwide publication. The book, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, was due to be serialised exclusively by the Daily Mail ahead of its release next Tuesday by Penguin Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House. According to the Mail, only four copies were stolen from a vehicle carrying thousands of copies, parked overnight in a lay-by en route from a Central European printing plant to a Dutch warehouse.
How the theft unfolded
The Mail reports that the lorry left a printing plant in Central Europe on Monday, travelling towards a warehouse in the Netherlands ahead of distribution to Dutch bookshops. The driver stopped that evening to sleep in a lay-by in the Dutch countryside and, at around 8am, discovered the vehicle had been broken into. Despite the lorry carrying thousands of copies of the book, only four — each wrapped in black plastic to conceal their contents — appear to have been taken. Penguin executives in London were reportedly not informed of the break-in until the following afternoon.
Dutch police are investigating the incident. Publishing sources have speculated that it could represent an attempt to obtain an advance copy of the book ahead of publication, though theories among industry figures reportedly range from opportunistic theft to the involvement of an unusually well-informed member of the public with strong views on the Royal Family.
Publishing industry reaction
One publishing source, quoted by the Mail, described the break-in as “extremely suspicious,” adding that nothing comparable had happened before. The source said the book was expected to be among the most significant publications of the year, that security around it had been unusually tight, and that every precaution had been taken to prevent details leaking ahead of serialisation — meaning the incident was being treated with particular seriousness.
It would not be the first time a major book has gone missing shortly before release. In 2003, a lorry carrying more than 7,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth novel in the series, was stolen from a warehouse on Merseyside.
What the memoir contains
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is described as a personal account of Earl Spencer’s relationship with his sister and of her troubled marriage to the then Prince of Wales, now King Charles III. It is also said to offer new insight into what has been called the “seismic week” that followed Diana’s death in a car crash in August 1997, during which the Royal Family faced an unprecedented wave of global public grief and anger. The publisher has billed the memoir as “historic” and “extraordinarily moving.”
A publishing insider told the Mail that Earl Spencer had remained largely silent on the subject for almost three decades, and described what he reveals about the King’s reaction to Diana’s death as “utterly devastating.” Buckingham Palace is understood to be preparing for revelations that could reopen the wounds of the former Prince and Princess of Wales’s acrimonious separation and divorce.
Publication timed to Diana’s anniversary
The book is due to be published worldwide next Tuesday and translated into 12 languages, arriving ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death. Earl Spencer has said the memoir is intended to correct what he has called “untruths” told about his sister over the years.
Earl Spencer, 62, is widely remembered for the eulogy he delivered at Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey in 1997, a service broadcast to a worldwide television audience of an estimated 2.5 billion people.
