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Four copies of Earl Spencer's Diana memoir stolen from a Dutch lorry
Thieves broke into a truck carrying thousands of copies of Swan Song and took just four, days before the book's worldwide release.
In brief
Thieves broke into a truck carrying thousands of copies of Swan Song and took just four, days before the book's worldwide release. A break-in that took only four hidden copies of the year's most guarded book looks less like random theft and more like a targeted attempt to read it early. Originally reported by…
The book vanished before release
Copies of Earl Spencer's new book about Princess Diana were stolen from a lorry, just before the Daily Mail was due to serialise it.
A memoir about a sad marriage
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister reveals how deeply unhappy Diana was in her marriage to the then Prince of Wales.
The crisis after her death
The book also covers the turmoil that hit the Royal Family after Diana died in a car crash almost 30 years ago.
Nearly 30 years of silence
A publishing insider says Spencer's account of how the King reacted when Diana died is the most damaging part of the book.
“what he has to say about the King's reaction when Diana died is utterly devastating”
Thousands of copies on one truck
The lorry was carrying thousands of copies when someone broke into it overnight while it was parked in a lay-by in the Netherlands.
Only four copies taken
The thieves took just four copies, all wrapped in black plastic to hide what they were. Publishing sources suspect a bold plan to get the book before it reached the shops.
Dutch police are investigating
People in the industry have their own theories. Some blame opportunistic thieves. Others think it was a misguided royal supporter who knew exactly what was on the truck.
Nothing like it before
One publishing source called the break-in unprecedented, given how tightly the book of the year had been guarded.
“It's extremely suspicious. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
Every leak precaution taken
The publishers had done everything they could to stop the book leaking before serialisation, so they are treating the theft very seriously.
“this unprecedented incident is being taken extremely seriously”
Out worldwide next Tuesday
Penguin Michael Joseph, part of Penguin Random House, publishes Swan Song next Tuesday. The Mail's exclusive serialisation runs before it reaches bookshops.
A personal story of siblings
Described as historic and deeply moving, the memoir is Spencer's own account of his bond with his older sister and of her failed marriage.
Inside that week in 1997
The book gives rare detail on the week after Diana's death in August 1997, when grief and anger from around the world swept over the House of Windsor.
The Palace braces itself
Buckingham Palace expects shocking claims that could reopen old wounds from Charles and Diana's bitter split and divorce. The theft has now thrown publication plans into chaos.
The lorry's route
On Monday the truck left a printing plant in Central Europe, heading for a warehouse in the Netherlands that supplies Dutch bookshops.
A driver's morning discovery
The driver pulled into a countryside lay-by to sleep. At about 8am he found the lorry had been broken into, with only a few wrapped copies missing.
Penguin found out late
Penguin's bosses in London didn't hear about the break-in until 3.30pm yesterday.
Harry Potter was hit too
In 2003, a lorry carrying more than 7,000 copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix was stolen from a warehouse on Merseyside.
Setting the record straight
With the 30th anniversary of Diana's death coming up, Spencer has promised the book will correct untruths about her. It will appear in 12 languages.
The brother behind the eulogy
Spencer, now 62, gave a raw, defiant eulogy at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey, watched by 2.5 billion people worldwide.
The short version
A break-in that took only four hidden copies of the year's most guarded book looks less like random theft and more like a targeted attempt to read it early.
