Earl Spencer reveals he regrets not naming Dodi Fayed in his celebrated eulogy at Princess Diana's funeral
- Read part one of our exclusive serialisation of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister - the searing memoir that has started a war of words with the King - here
- Read part two: Earl Spencer criticises the royals' 'lack of obvious care' for Prince Harry on the day of his mother Diana's funeral
- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
By MARK HOOKHAM, ASSISTANT EDITOR (INVESTIGATIONS)
Published: | Updated:
Earl Spencer has spoken of his regret at removing Dodi Fayed's name from his famous eulogy at Princess Diana's funeral.
Writing in his bombshell memoir, the earl praised Dodi for being 'kind to Diana' and said the final images of the pair before the car crash in Paris that killed them showed a 'gentle playfulness'.
He, however, believes his sister's 'fling' with Dodi in the summer of 1997 was motivated by Diana wanting to make another suitor jealous.
Charles Spencer's defiant eulogy at his older sister's funeral was later named one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century.
In it, he described Diana as 'the very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty', adding: 'All over the world she was a symbol of selfless humanity.'
There was, however, no mention in his speech of Dodi who had enjoyed a romance with Diana before their deaths.
In his book, Spencer discloses that he did name Dodi in an early draft – but removed the reference before delivering it.
'In my original eulogy draft I gave a small nod to Dodi Fayed, thanking him by name for making Diana happy in her last few weeks alive,' he said.
Earl Spencer said he regrets not naming Dodi Fayed in his eulogy at Princess Diana's funeral
Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed pictured in Saint-Tropez, France, just days before they were killed in a car crash in Paris
Earl Spencer, William, Harry and Charles stand alongside the hearse containing the coffin of Diana during her funeral
'I had never met him but had heard that he was a nice man who was good to Diana. Now I believe I was wrong to remove his name from my speech.
'I should have left him in, even though I reckon they most likely would not have married.
'I have always felt the fling with Dodi stemmed from Diana wanting to make another suitor – whom she loved deeply – jealous.'
Although Earl Spencer does not name the suitor, it is likely to be a reference to heart surgeon Hasnat Khan, whom Diana is said to have described to friends as 'Mr Wonderful'.
Earl Spencer also discloses that Diana 'disliked' Dodi's father, the Harrods and Fulham FC owner Mohamed Fayed, who, since his death aged 94 in 2023, has been accused by hundreds of women of sexual misconduct.
Harrods has set aside more than £50million to settle compensation claims
The earl writes: 'She [Diana] told me with revulsion how, early in her romance with Dodi, Mohamed had come up to her, dropped a hand onto her buttocks and squeezed them while saying in a leery, suggestive tone, "And in Egypt, father-in-law gets first go…"
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.