Earl Spencer’s book about his sister Princess Diana, titled "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," was stolen from a truck in the Netherlands shortly before its serialisation in the Daily Mail. The memoir includes revelations about Diana's marriage to Prince Charles and details the Royal Family's reaction following her death. Publishing insiders suggest that up to four copies were taken by thieves who may have targeted the book due to its anticipated impact, with Dutch police investigating the incident.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-15,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
Copies of Earl Spencer's sensational book about Princess Diana have been stolen from a lorry – just before its exclusive serialisation in the Daily Mail.
asserted
Copies → see → Mail
The memoir – Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – includes revelations about Diana's deeply unhappy marriage with the then Prince of Wales.
asserted
memoir → include → Wales
It also describes the crisis that engulfed the Royal Family after her death in a car crash almost 30 years ago.
asserted
that → describe → crash
Last night a publishing insider said: 'Earl Spencer has kept his silence for nearly 30 years and what he has to say about the King's reaction when Diana died is utterly devastating.'
But, in an astonishing development, the Mail can reveal that a truck packed with thousands of copies of the book was broken into after it was parked overnight in a lay-by in the Netherlands earlier this week.
asserted
it → say → Netherlands
Just four copies, which had been wrapped in black plastic to hide their contents, were stolen in what publishing sources believe could have been an audacious plot to steal the highly-anticipated book of the year before it hits the shelves.
uncertain
it → wrap → shelves
Dutch police are investigating the mysterious break-in, with theories among industry insiders about who was responsible ranging from a gang of opportunistic thieves to a misguided, but highly informed, supporter of the Royal Family.
asserted
who → investigate → Family
'It's extremely suspicious,' one publishing source said last night.
asserted
source → say → ?
'Nothing like this has ever happened before.
asserted
Nothing → happen → this
This is probably the biggest book of the year and the security surrounding it has been incredibly tight.
asserted
security → surround → it
Earl Spencer's bombshell new book about his sister Princess Diana has been stolen (he is pictured in March)
asserted
he → steal → March
The front cover of the memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is pictured.
asserted
cover → picture → memoir
The book is set to be exclusively serialised in the Daily Mail
The memoir includes revelations about Princess Diana's deeply unhappy marriage with the then Prince of Wales (Charles and Diana are pictured in 1985)
'
asserted
Charles → set → 1985
Every possible precaution has been taken to prevent it from being leaked ahead of its serialisation.
asserted
precaution → take → serialisation
Therefore this unprecedented incident is being taken extremely seriously.
asserted
incident → take → ?
'
Swan Song is due to be published worldwide next Tuesday, by Penguin Michael Joseph, a division of Penguin Random House, with the Mail publishing an exclusive serialisation before the memoir is available in bookshops.
asserted
memoir → publish → bookshops
Described as an 'historic' and 'extraordinarily moving', the memoir is a deeply personal account of Earl Spencer's relationship with his older sibling and of her failed marriage.
asserted
memoir → describe → marriage
It also provides unprecedented insight into the seismic week following Diana's death in August 1997, during which the House of Windsor was engulfed by a global wave of public grief and anger.
asserted
House → provide → grief
Buckingham Palace is understood to be braced for a string of shocking revelations that threaten to reopen the wounds of the former Prince and Princess of Wales's highly acrimonious split and eventual divorce.
asserted
that → understand → split
Publication plans have, however, been thrown into chaos by the heist.
asserted
plans → throw → heist
The Mail understands that a lorry left a printing plant in Central Europe on Monday on its way to a warehouse in the Netherlands before copies were distributed to Dutch bookshops.
asserted
copies → understand → bookshops
At some point that evening the driver parked in a lay-by deep in the Dutch countryside to sleep.
asserted
driver → park → countryside
At around 8am he found the lorry had been broken into but, mysteriously, only a handful of wrapped copies of Swan Song were missing.
asserted
handful → find → Song
Shocked Penguin bosses in London were only told about the break-in at 3.30pm yesterday.
asserted
bosses → tell → 3.30pm
It would not be the first time that a major book has been stolen just before publication.
asserted
book → steal → publication
In 2003, a lorry with more than 7,000 of copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the fifth in the fantasy series, was stolen from a warehouse on Merseyside.
asserted
lorry → steal → Merseyside
Ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana's death, Earl Spencer has vowed that his book, which will be published around the world and translated into 12 languages, will correct 'untruths' that have been told about his sister.
asserted
that → vow → sister
The earl, 62, delivered a raw and defiant eulogy during Diana's funeral at Westminster Abbey, which was broadcast to a worldwide audience of 2.5billion.
asserted
which → deliver → 2.5billion
The Aporia
