Bookshops across central London saw a quiet reception on Tuesday for the launch of Earl Spencer’s memoir about his late sister Diana, Princess of Wales, with the £28 hardback marked at half price.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister went on sale for the first time on Tuesday, displayed in storefronts across the capital including Waterstones Piccadilly, which is the largest bookstore in Europe.
Dozens of copies bearing red "half price" stickers were stacked in the display, alongside a quote from Charles Spencer reading: "When asked, ‘What was it like, growing up with Diana?’, my first thought is always, But I don’t know what it was like not to grow up with her."
A small handful of customers arrived early on Tuesday to buy copies, including 69-year-old retired pharmacist Mary Scheible.
Speaking to the Press Association shortly after 9am, she said she has "always been fascinated in Diana and her story".
The customer, visiting from Atlanta in the United States, added: "I was married the same year that she and Charles were married, so there was kind of an affinity there.
"So I wanted to see her brother’s side of the story and what he had to say, and mostly read about growing up in their family and that part of her life."
Asked what she thought of the row surrounding published extracts, she said: "I just really don’t know what to make of it, and I know some of these things have been taken out of context or whatever, so I’d really like to read the book in it’s entirety and see if what’s being said is really what he’s trying to convey in the book or not."
The grandmother, visiting London on a trip with friends, plans to read the book "as soon as I get back to the hotel".
Waterstones branches in Trafalgar Square and Covent Garden, and the flagship Foyles store in Charing Cross, were similarly quiet on Tuesday morning.
The hardback carries a £28 cover price, but is half price in stores and on the Waterstones website.
The volume marks the first time Earl Spencer, 62, has written at length about his sibling, nearly three decades after her death.
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