EXCLUSIVE: Princess Diana's Brother Claims Her Eating Disorder Was 'Rampant' Six Months Before Her Tragic Death
Charles Spencer claims his sister's battle with bulimia returned in the months before her death.
Sept. 24 2026, Published 4:20 p.m. ET
Princess Diana's brother made the heartbreaking claim that her eating disorder was "not only unconquered but rampant" just six months before her tragic death in a gruesome 1997 Paris car crash, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Charles Spencer writes about how the late former royal was suffering emotionally in the aftermath of her 1996 divorce from then-Prince Charles, and that a man she was deeply in love with was no longer returning her calls.
Princess Diana Explored the Possibility of a New Life in South Africa With Her Doctor Lover
Charles Spencer writes about his sister's March 1997 visit to see him in South Africa in his new book.
Diana traveled to Cape Town, South Africa, in March 1997 to visit with Charles, who was living there at the time. However, in Swan Song, Diana, My Sister, he writes that she had another motive.
"The prime reason for Diana’s visit had been driven by romance, not family. She had come to see for herself if this sublimely beautiful tip of Africa, where I had moved to shake off the press attention I attracted (an occasional bob in the waves, compared to the daily tsunami she endured), could provide a haven for her and her heart-surgeon lover," he pens.
Spencer wondered, "Might they, she dared hope, move there together, and carve out a life?" seemingly referring to Diana and heart surgeon Dr. Hasnat Khan, with whom she had embarked on an intense romance in 1995, three years after her explosive separation from Charles.
Princess Diana Was 'Constantly Waiting' for Her Lover to Call
Dr. Hasnat Khan reportedly couldn't handle the attention of dating one of the world's most famous women.
Spencer recalled the heartbreaking signs of anguish Diana displayed over the rocky romance while staying under his roof, revealing, "Diana had spent her waking hours at my home with her mobile in her hand, constantly waiting for the man in her life to call. And, to her obvious distress, he rarely had."
Diana and Khan's doomed romance came crashing to an end for good just four months later, in July 1997, after the fiercely private surgeon reportedly struggled with the relentless scrutiny and media frenzy that came with dating one of the most famous women on the planet.
Princess Diana's Brother Claims Her Eating Disorder Was 'Not Only Unconquered But Rampant'
Princess Diana's brother claimed there 'had been many signs' that her eating disorder had returned in 1997.
"When Diana left, after those few days in my care, it had been an awkward parting. She was headed back to her life of global fame and obvious inner turmoil, while I was set to resume my simple life of semi-exile the other side of the world," Spencer recalls.
But he claimed there was another troubling sign that his sister was struggling, as the disordered eating Diana had battled for years had seemingly reared its ugly head once again.
"There had been many signs that her eating disorder was present – not only unconquered but rampant," he tells readers, as Diana had battled both anorexia and bulimia.
"When I asked her about it, in a sympathetic way, she was defensive, insisting that any issues she had with food were safely in the past. I knew that was not the truth," Spencer writes.
Princess Diana Battled Bulimia For Years But Claimed She Was 'Free' of It in 1995
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Princess Diana claimed in a 1995 interview about her bulimia battle, 'I'm free of it now.'
Spencer wrote that he agonized over not being able to help lift his sister's spirits, sharing, "I thought, as we kissed one another goodbye at Cape Town airport, how deeply unhappy she was, and how I really had not been able to help her much with that."
He adds, "It was a profoundly sad realization then, and is heartbreaking for me now."
Spencer's account directly challenges Diana's own public declaration less than two years earlier that she had overcome the disorder, after the princess had spoken with extraordinary candor about her years-long battle with bulimia, which she said began intensifying after her 1981 engagement to Charles.
Diana revealed how she would binge on food for comfort before purging, trapping her in a devastating cycle that she said was easier to conceal because her weight remained relatively stable.
