Daily Express readers have delivered a damning verdict on Earl Spencer's book about his late sister Princess Diana, with 95% of votes in a poll saying they will not buy it.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister hit bookshop shelves in the UK on Tuesday, September 22, after headline-grabbing excerpts were serialised in The Daily Mail. The book explores the life and untimely death of Princess Diana, who lost her life in a car accident in Paris in 1997.
Poll results deliver grim reading
The poll, which attracted 9,517 votes, saw 95% of readers vote "no" when asked whether they would be picking up a copy. Just 4% voted yes, and only 1% were unsure.
One reader commenting on the article said: "Nope, not even to use in the toilet." Another said: "There's only one place for it, down the pan." A third added: "No. Won't read not even excerpts."
Book's controversial claims
The Earl's book prompted a media firestorm before it was even released, after an excerpt was published in which he alleged that Charles had said during a heated phone call with him just days after Diana's death: "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough."
Earl Spencer claimed it came amid a disagreement between him and the Palace about whether Prince William and Harry, who were then only 15 and 12, respectively, should walk behind their mother's coffin at the funeral. The ceremony is estimated to have been watched by billions around the globe.
Palace response and book's success
In response to the claim, a Palace spokesperson said: "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."
The Daily Telegraph quoted a source close to the monarch who said the alleged comment was "just not in his nature and it certainly wasn't in his nature at that time, when he was a man absolutely grief-stricken".
Despite the poll result, Swan Song is doing well among the broader public, currently sitting at number 1 in the world on Amazon's best-selling books ranking. The book also explores Diana's childhood, the immense public pressure she experienced as a royal, and her transformational efforts to destigmatise AIDS at the height of the epidemic in the 1980s.
