Princess Diana died in a tragic car accident on August 31, 1997, but 28 years later, her brother Charles, Earl Spencer, still has people venting to him about her death. In a new interview on Gyles Brandreth's podcast, "Rosebud," the earl spoke candidly about the impact Diana's death has had on him, but also the public as a whole.
"I tell you what I do find quite difficult," he shared. "It probably sounds ungracious but occasionally total strangers come up and feel they must tell me where they were when they heard that she died." Earl Spencer, 61, added, "I’m sure that’s helpful to them, it’s not entirely helpful to everyone else."
Citing one recent encounter, the earl said a woman "clutched me to her ample bosom and said that I may have thought I grew up with Diana, but actually she did in South Dakota." He appeared to take the strange moment in stride, however, adding, "You just have to smile, it doesn't matter."
When speaking about the anniversary of Diana's death, Earl Spencer said that it's still difficult for him. "I get fundamentally unhappy on the 31st of August," he said, adding that he cuts flowers and goes to visit her grave with any of his children who are there at the time.
"I try and be really busy on August 31 because it’s just terribly sad, really," he continued.
When Brandreth asked what made people remain fascinated with Princess Diana to this day, Earl Spencer said, "I think it’s different things to different people, and I think particularly to women of a similar age, they really invested their lives in hers."
"Maybe they had an unhappy marriage, maybe they battled an eating disorder," he continued. "There’s plenty of Diana to look into and take your bit out of—almost like a horoscope, you know. You can make it make sense for you."
Earl Spencer shared that his friend and Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes had another theory. "Of course, she married into the Royal family, she was beautiful and very charismatic. But he also said, 'like the great film stars, there was something unhappy in there that really triggered an emotional response,'" Earl Spencer shared.
When Brandreth asked what the siblings share, the earl said that their "sense of humor is the same. It's quite irreverent and all of that." He also referenced their upbringing, noting that "unsnobbishness" was a quality he hoped they had in common.
Earl Spencer also reflected on the decision for Prince Harry and Prince William to walk behind Diana's coffin. "I have to say, as an uncle, I didn’t think it should happen because I just thought they were too young. But I was told by Buckingham Palace that it was happening," he said.
However, the earl praised the late Prince Philip for being "brilliant" and a "calming presence" during the funeral. "He was a very good grandfather and did his best in impossible circumstances," Earl Spencer added.
