Charles Spencer says losing Princess Diana was 'like an amputation' in rare interview

Charles Spencer is sharing the lifelong pain of losing his sister, Princess Diana, nearly 27 years after her death.

Appearing on ITV’s Loose Men, a special edition of Loose Women for Mental Health Awareness Week, the 9th Earl Spencer, now 60, opened up about the trauma of sibling grief and the unfillable void left behind.

"It's such an amputation," he said, describing the grief of losing Diana. 

"You grow up with these people, they’re your flesh and blood… and then they’re gone."

Diana, who was just 36 when she died in a car crash in Paris in 1997 while being chased by paparazzi, shared a uniquely close bond with her younger brother.

"For years after Diana died, I would think, 'I must ring her and tell her something,' because we shared the same sense of humour," he recalled. "And you just realize, of course, that’s not going to happen."

"As your family naturally folds in on itself, you lose your parents, I have two older sisters who I adore... but I don’t share my childhood with anyone anymore. And that’s a great loss you can never really put right."

Charles and Diana were the youngest of four siblings, born to John Spencer and Frances Shand Kydd. 

There was a nine-year age gap between eldest sister Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Charles.

When asked about his instincts to protect Diana, especially as she endured intense public scrutiny, Charles recalled the “horrendous” media treatment she faced, particularly toward the end of her life.

"I remember just before she died, a female journalist wrote a really horrendous article," he said. "I don’t think that journalist was thinking of Diana as a person. She was something to make money out of."

How did Princess Diana die?

Princess Diana died in a car crash in the early hours of August 31, 1997, in the Pont de l'Alma tunnel in Paris, France. 

She was in the car with her partner, Dodi Fayed, their driver Henri Paul, and bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones. The car was being pursued by paparazzi at high speed when it crashed into a pillar in the tunnel.

Investigations later revealed that the driver, Henri Paul, was intoxicated and driving at high speed. 

Diana, Dodi, and Henri Paul died as a result of the crash. Only Rees-Jones survived, as he was the only one wearing a seatbelt.

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