Earl Charles Spencer, Princess Diana’s brother, has opened up about the deeply personal and painful experience of losing her.

Diana’s tragic death at just 36 years old in 1997 remains one of the most heartbreaking moments in modern history. While millions across the globe grieved for the “People’s Princess,” Charles Spencer was grieving his beloved sister.

Now, nearly 28 years later, Charles has shared how her passing truly affected him—and how, in the lead-up to her death, he had taken on the role of a fiercely protective brother.

Charles Spencer reflects on Diana’s death

Appearing on ITV’s Loose Men on Thursday, 59-year-old Charles opened up during an emotional conversation about loss and family.

“It’s such an amputation,” he said. “You grow up with these people. They are your flesh and blood. They’re with you forever. And then they are gone.

“You expect obviously, first grandparents and then parents to go. And there is an awful tragedy of children going. But siblings, it’s a really extraordinary thing.”

He spoke candidly about how difficult it was to accept her death, revealing that the reality of it took a long time to truly settle in.

“For years after Diana died, I would think ‘Oh, I must ring her and tell her something.’ We shared the same sense of humour. And then you realise, of course, that’s not going to happen.”

What made the loss especially hard for Charles was their closeness in age—they were just three years apart. That closeness had bonded them throughout childhood, and they had remained emotionally connected over the years.

His older sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, 70, and Lady Jane Fellowes, 68, while dearly loved, didn’t share that same day-to-day childhood connection with him.

“I have two sisters who I adore, but they are quite a lot older than me,” he said. “So I don’t really share my childhood with anyone anymore. That’s the greatest loss that you can never really put right.”

Charles became fiercely protective of Diana

In the months leading up to Diana’s death, the media was relentless, especially following her separation from then-Prince Charles. The intense public scrutiny didn’t just affect Diana—it also deeply impacted those closest to her.

Charles admitted that at times, the coverage would enrage him, particularly when it became clear some journalists no longer saw his sister as a real person.

“I remember just before she died, a female journalist wrote a really horrendous article,” he said. “By that stage I don’t think that journalist was thinking of Diana as a person. She was something to make money off or whatever. And so I wrote to her in outrage.

“I think particularly as a brother of a sister, you always feel like you want to get stuck in really.”

Through his words, it’s clear that Charles Spencer’s love for his sister has never faded. And though the world lost an icon, he lost someone far more personal—his closest childhood companion.