Four copies of Earl Spencer’s unpublished book about his sister Diana, Princess of Wales, were taken from a truck in the Netherlands. According to the BBC, the theft happened while the vehicle was moving from the printer to the publisher’s warehouse.
The Dutch police confirmed they know about the incident and have been asked for a response. The work, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, comes out in the United Kingdom and worldwide on Tuesday.
The Truck Theft
According to someone who spoke with the BBC, the truck driver was required to take a rest in a car park and had fallen asleep inside his cab when the books were taken. The source said Dutch police are looking into the matter, though they declined to specify where the theft occurred.
Earlier this week, the Daily Mail reported a theft in the Dutch countryside and said it was also serialising the book. The BBC reached out to both Penguin Michael Joseph — a division of Penguin Random House — and Dutch publisher Overamstel, which owns the rights to the book in the Netherlands, for their views on the matter.
What the Book Covers
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister tells the story of Princess Diana’s life from Earl Spencer’s perspective. Last month, announcing the book’s publication, Earl Spencer explained that he had been inundated with interview requests and wanted to write down his own thoughts and memories rather than “having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others.”
“The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral,” he added, referring to the eulogy he delivered in Westminster Abbey in September 1997.
“I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way.”
Diana’s Legacy
Princess Diana died aged 36 following a car crash in Paris in 1997. She would have turned 65 on 1 July this year. Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were aged 15 and 12 respectively at the time of her death.
Earl Spencer’s tribute to Princess Diana included a description of her as the “very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty,” with his remarks concluding: “All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity… a standard bearer for the rights of the truly downtrod.”.
During her address, she took aim at the press, dubbing it the “most hunted person of the modern age”, while promising to shield Prince William and Prince Harry from a comparable destiny.
The 2023 Predecessor
Spanish booksellers posted copies of Prince Harry’s memoir Spare for sale before the official global launch, with the error appearing in 2023.
What We Know So Far
- Four copies of the Dutch-language edition were taken.
- The theft happened while the truck was on its way from the printer to the warehouse.
- The driver was asleep in his cab during the break.
- Dutch police are investigating.
- The book is scheduled for release on Tuesday.
That only four copies were removed from their resting place gives the matter more significance than mere loss of convenience would suggest. It is not yet known whether the theft was part of some greater interest in the book.
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