2026年9月20日 / 美国东部时间上午10:06 / 哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
作者
马克·菲利普斯 资深外籍记者
查尔斯·斯宾塞正在验证一个萦绕我们时代已久的问题：全世界究竟能否停止对他的姐姐、威尔士王妃戴安娜的关注？
事实上，在她 tragically 去世近30年后，围绕她人生的争议并未消散。
斯宾塞的新书《绝唱：我的姐姐戴安娜》（将于周二由企鹅出版社出版）重新揭开了一些陈年旧伤，尤其是他回忆起戴安娜去世后不久与戴安娜的前夫、如今的国王查尔斯之间一次令人不安的对话：“他谈到戴安娜时说，‘我们很快就会把她忘掉。’我实在无法重现当时的语气，但说实话，他说这话时带着几分讥讽。我当时说，‘真不敢相信你会这么说。’”
但凡稍微了解时事的人都知道戴安娜的故事……她出身英国顶级贵族世家，年仅19岁就被选中成为当时还是王储的查尔斯的新娘。这场看似童话般的婚礼最终演变成一段充满裂痕的婚姻，最终以惨烈的离婚收场。她在巴黎车祸中早逝，令人扼腕。这是一个令人揪心、却又充满戏剧性的真实肥皂剧，全球观众对此似乎永远都看不够。
但为何要为这样一个广为人知的故事再写一本书？
“明年就是她去世30周年纪念日，我收到了大量邀约，要我参与他人的书籍或纪录片拍摄，”斯宾塞说道，“我突然想到，既然大家都这么想听我的讲述，那不如我就给大家一个权威版本的故事。”
没错，这就是斯宾塞版本的故事。
人们对戴安娜的评价向来两极分化。她是为刻板沉闷的王室吹来了新鲜空气的现代先锋——或是她是个恃宠而骄的暴发户，其人气威胁到了传统王室的行事方式，破坏了这个素来以冷漠和神秘感维持运转的体制。
当被问及人们对戴安娜有哪些误解时，斯宾塞回答：“我认为那些挑剔她、指责她的人，都没有真正理解她是多么独特的一股力量。”
这是出于恶意吗？“我认为英国政坛的很多人都不知道该如何应对这股完全离经叛道却又才华横溢的力量，”斯宾塞说道，“在她活跃于公众视野期间，他们曾多次试图压制她。戴安娜将他们称为‘穿灰色西装的男人’——尤其是那些为王室工作的人。”
查尔斯·斯宾塞是第九代斯宾塞伯爵。斯宾塞家族向来以效忠王室著称，从未公开批评过王室，但戴安娜的故事改变了这一点。
在家族庄园奥尔索普庄园接受采访时，斯宾塞表示：“我们坐的这座房子周围挂满了我的祖先肖像，他们都曾忠心耿耿地为王室效力。当年戴安娜被选中成为王室新娘时，人们或许以为她会融入过去的传统模式，但她并没有。所以，我不确定这是否出于恶意，但我确实知道其中存在嫉妒。”
“她说，即便从她第一次海外王室出访——也就是澳大利亚之行开始，就已经很艰难了。如果她在街道的一侧与民众互动，而[查尔斯]在另一侧，那么他那边的民众就没那么热情，这让他非常难受，”斯宾塞说道。
当然，婚姻期间查尔斯与旧爱、如今的卡米拉王后保持联系，也让情况雪上加霜。
国王查尔斯在这本书中的形象并不光彩。事实上，王室已经作出回应，称斯宾塞的回忆可能是“兄弟间的悲痛蒙蔽了理智、影响了判断力并扭曲了记忆”。比如斯宾塞称戴安娜去世后不久接到查尔斯的电话：“他听起来很兴奋，带着一种兴奋的调子，”斯宾塞回忆道，“显然，我既不辩解也不批判，我只是如实报道这一事实。”
斯宾塞暗示，查尔斯当时之所以“兴奋”，可能是因为他终于可以自由地追求卡米拉了。“我当时说，或许就是这样，没错。但显然，我无法得知他当时在想什么，但我一直在想，为什么有人会在那个时候感到兴奋。”
“我今日站在这里，代表一个沉浸在悲痛中的家庭”
在1997年9月戴安娜的葬礼悼词中，斯宾塞将自己塑造成她遗产和她孩子的保护者，尤其是在两个孩子被迫跟在母亲灵柩后面行走之后。“我当时觉得这个想法太荒唐了，心想这事肯定不会发生，”他说。
是因为他觉得这对两个男孩来说太残忍了吗？“没错，而且我认为这太野蛮了，”他回答道。
斯宾塞表示，他认为让孩子们跟在母亲灵柩后穿过伦敦街头的主意，是为了保护查尔斯免受民众的抗议。“这是我从当时参与此事的政客那里听来的，没错，”他说，“当时有人担心，如果他独自走在戴安娜的灵柩后面，会遭到人群的辱骂。这就是他们的顾虑。如果孩子们也跟在后面，这种情况就不可能发生。他们告诉我，他们是自愿这么做的。而我，我认为自己被欺骗了。”
1997年9月6日，查尔斯王子、哈里王子、斯宾塞伯爵、威廉王子和爱丁堡公爵菲利普亲王跟随威尔士王妃戴安娜的灵柩前往威斯敏斯特教堂参加葬礼。戴夫·M·贝内特/盖蒂图片社
当被问及是否与侄子们谈论过此事时，斯宾塞说：“我从未和威廉和哈里讨论过我曾讨论过的话题，但我了解所有角度的真相，这么说吧。”
戴安娜被安葬在家族庄园的一座小岛上已经过去很久了。但对查尔斯·斯宾塞来说，当时发生的事情至今仍在产生影响。
第九代斯宾塞伯爵查尔斯·斯宾塞与记者马克·菲利普斯在北安普敦郡的奥尔索普庄园，戴安娜就安葬在这里。哥伦比亚广播公司新闻
当被问及是否认为哈里目前与王室和媒体的矛盾，可追溯到他母亲去世时的经历时，斯宾塞回答：“我有时确实会想，这种情况……”
是指哈里和威廉之间的关系吗？“我认为更广泛地说，哈里的感受，我想知道这在多大程度上与那段极其悲伤的时期有关，”斯宾塞说，“他当时还那么小。我只是在想，如果当时能以更温和、更善解人意的方式对待他的悲痛，或许会对他有所帮助，或许每个人都能找到更幸福的前路。”
当被问及如果婚姻存续、戴安娜活到现在，她会成为怎样的王后时，斯宾塞回答：“我认为戴安娜会成为一位非常了不起的王后。让这样一位超级巨星担任这一角色，对英国来说会非常有益。”
网络独家内容：观看与查尔斯·斯宾塞的加长专访（视频）
加长专访：查尔斯·斯宾塞谈戴安娜王妃 25:50
https://www.cbsnews.com/video/extended-interview-charles-spencer-on-princess-diana/
阅读白金汉宫的完整声明：
“虽然我们原则上不评论书籍，但国王陛下深知，兄弟间的悲痛可能会蒙蔽理智、影响判断力并扭曲记忆，这种情况旁人甚至在多年后都难以察觉。”
更多信息：
- 查尔斯·斯宾塞所著《绝唱：我的姐姐戴安娜》（企鹅出版社出版），有精装本、大型平装本、电子书和有声书版本，将于9月22日在亚马逊、巴诺书店和Bookshop.org发售
本文由米凯拉·布法诺制作。编辑：布莱恩·罗宾斯。
Charles Spencer’s striking claims about the royal fallout following Princess Diana’s death
September 20, 2026 / 10:06 AM EDT / CBS News
By
Mark Phillips Senior Foreign Correspondent
Charles Spencer is testing one of the lingering questions of our time: can the world ever get enough of his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales?
It turns out the controversy surrounding her life has not faded nearly 30 years after her tragic death.
In fact, Spencer’s new book, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” (to be published Tuesday by Penguin Press), has pulled the scabs off some old wounds, especially when he recounts an unsettling conversion he says he had with Diana’s ex-husband – now King Charles – shortly after she died: “He said about Diana, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough.’ And he said it, I can’t really recreate it, but it was said with a bit of a hiss, to be honest. And I said, ‘I can’t believe you said that.’”
Penguin Press
You’d have to have been living under a rock not to know Diana’s story … the daughter of one of England’s grand aristocratic dynasties, chosen at just 19 to be the bride of the then-Prince Charles. Their seeming fairy-tale wedding, which turned into a rocky marriage, that ended in a bitter divorce. Her tragic early death in a Paris car crash. It was a riveting, if sad, real-life soap opera, with an apparently insatiable worldwide audience.
But why do a new book about such a well-known story?
“With the 30th anniversary of her death coming up next year, I was getting inundated with requests to be in somebody else’s book or documentary,” Spencer said. “And it suddenly occurred to me, well, if you’re all so interested in hearing from me, I might just give you the definitive story.”
Well, the Spencer version of the story.
Diana has always divided opinion. She was the modern breath of fresh air who blew the cobwebs out of the fusty royals – or she was the upstart whose popularity threatened the old ways and undermined an institution that had done very nicely, thank you, by maintaining its aloofness and its mystery.
Asked what he believes people have gotten wrong about Diana, Spencer replied, “I think people who picked at her and found fault with her did so without a true appreciation of the unique force that she was.”
Was it malice? “I think a lot of people in the British establishment didn’t know what to do with this totally rogue but brilliant force,” Spencer said. “And there were a lot of attempts during her time on the public stage where they tried to suppress her. Diana would call them the ‘men in gray suits’ – people working for the royal family in particular.”
Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, at Althorp. CBS News
Charles Spencer is the 9th Earl Spencer. His family has not endured near the top of the British aristocratic food chain by being critical of the royal household, but Diana’s story has changed that.
Speaking at Althorp, his family’s estate, Spencer said, “We’re sitting in a house here, surrounded by portraits of my ancestors, all of whom served the crown very loyally. And there was probably a thought when Diana was plucked to become a royal bride that she would fit into the mold of the past, and she didn’t. And so, I don’t know about malice, but I do know about jealousy.
“She said it was very difficult, even from her first royal tour overseas, which was to Australia, how if she was on one side of the street with the public and [Charles] was on the other, the crowd on his side of the street were less thrilled, and that this was very difficult for him,” Spencer said.
And, of course, Charles’ continuing connection during the marriage to his old flame, now Queen Camilla, didn’t help.
King Charles does not come off well in this book. So badly, in fact that the palace has responded, saying Spencer’s recollections may be the result of “fraternal grief that can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory.” Memories like the one of a call Spencer says he got from Charles soon after Diana’s death: “He sounded excited in a sort of upbeat way,” Spencer recalled. “And obviously I’m not justifying or criticizing, I’m reporting that’s the fact.”
Spencer has suggested that Charles may have felt “upbeat” because he finally felt free to pursue Camilla. “I said that that might’ve been it, yeah. But that’s obviously, I can’t say what he was thinking, but I’m trying to think why would somebody feel giddy at that time.”
“I stand before you today the representative of a family in grief”
In his eulogy at Diana’s funeral in September 1997, Spencer cast himself as protector of her legacy, and of her children, particularly after they were made to walk behind their mother’s coffin. “I thought it was such an absurd idea that I just thought, well, that won’t happen,” he said.
Because he felt it would be too hard on the boys? “That, and I thought it was barbaric,” he replied.
Spencer said he believes the idea of having them follow their mother’s coffin through the streets of London was to protect Charles from the crowd’s reaction. “That’s what I heard from politicians who were involved at the time, yes,” he said. “There was a concern that if he walked alone behind Diana’s coffin, that he would be insulted by people in the crowd. That was the fear. And that that couldn’t possibly happen if the boys walked behind. I was told they wanted to do it. And I was, I believe I was lied to.”
Prince Charles, Prince Harry, Earl Spencer, Prince William and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, follow the coffin of Diana, the Princess of Wales, towards Westminster Abbey for her funeral service on September 6, 1997. Dave M. Benett/Getty Images
Asked if he had talked about it with his nephews, Spencer said, “I never discuss what I’ve discussed with William and Harry, but I know the truth from all angles, I can put it that way.”
It’s been a long time since Diana was buried on an island on the family estate. But to Charles Spencer, what happened back then is still having an effect now.
Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, with correspondent Mark Phillips, at the Althorp Estate in Northamptonshire, where Diana was laid to rest. CBS News
Asked if he thinks Harry’s current difficulty with the family and the press harkens back to his experience of the time his mother died, Spencer replied, “I do sometimes wonder with the situation, if I can call it that …”
Between Harry and William? “I think the broader one of Harry’s feelings, I wonder how much it is connected to this very sad time,” Spencer said. “He was so young. And I just wonder if a gentler, more understanding treatment of his grief then might have helped him, and that everyone might have found a happier course ahead.”
Asked what kind of queen Diana would have made if the marriage had lasted and she had lived, Spencer replied, “I think Diana would have been a really amazing queen. To have a sort of superstar in that role would have been very good for Britain.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Charles Spencer (Video)
Extended interview: Charles Spencer on Princess Diana 25:50https://www.cbsnews.com/video/extended-interview-charles-spencer-on-princess-diana/
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Read the full statement from Buckingham Palace:
“While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
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For more info:
- “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” by Charles Spencer (Penguin Press), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available Sept. 22 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Bookshop.org
Story produced by Mikaela Bufano. Editor: Brian Robbins.
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