King Charles Issues Rare Response to Earl Spencer’s Explosive Claim About Princess Diana
King Charles with his sons Princes William and Harry and Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer (left) at Diana’s funeral in September 1997 (Image: mirrorpix)
King Charles tonight hit back at extraordinary claims by Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer that he said the royal family would “forget her soon enough” following her tragic death in 1997.
King Charles has taken the unusual step of publicly responding to a dramatic allegation made by Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, about a private conversation the two men allegedly had in the days after her death in 1997.
In his forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Charles Spencer claims the then-Prince of Wales told him, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough,” during a heated dispute over arrangements for Diana’s funeral.
Buckingham Palace has now challenged Spencer’s recollection, suggesting that the profound grief he experienced after losing his sister may have affected how he remembers events nearly three decades later.
Palace Responds to Spencer’s Account
Earl Spencer gives the eulogy at Diana’s funeral in the days after her death (Image: PA)
The tone of the King’s message bore the hallmarks of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s rebuke to allegations of racism within the royal family made by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan in 2021.
A spokesperson for the King said Buckingham Palace does not normally comment on books but issued a pointed response to Spencer’s allegation.
“While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
The statement represents a rare intervention from the Palace over claims contained in a forthcoming royal book. Rather than offering an alternative account of the alleged conversation, it directly raises questions about Spencer’s recollection of it.
Dispute Centered on William and Harry
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle talk to Oprah Winfrey(Image: Harpo Productions/ITV)
The new book, Swang Song: Diana, my sister, due to be published next Tuesday, Spencer also claims he told Charles how his sister would have been horrified at the thought of her sons having to endure the spectacle of walking in public behind her coffin.
Spencer says the alleged exchange took place as Diana’s family and the Royal Family were discussing whether Prince William and Prince Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin.
William was 15 and Harry was 12 when Diana died in a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997.
According to Spencer, a senior royal aide informed him that the two princes would participate in the funeral procession. He says he immediately objected, believing Diana would have been horrified by the idea of her sons enduring such a public ordeal.
Spencer claims Charles called him shortly afterward and pointed to his own experience walking in the funeral procession of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, who was killed by an IRA bomb in 1979.
Spencer believed the situations were fundamentally different because Charles had been 30 at the time. He describes the resulting telephone conversation as increasingly angry.
Spencer Makes His Most Explosive Allegation
Princess Diana poses during her visit to Australia in 1988(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The royals have been braced for weeks over the contents of Spencer’s book, the first time he has spoken at length about the circumstances and monarchy’s reactions over his beloved sister’s passing.
In the memoir, Spencer claims Charles continued speaking angrily before suddenly pausing.
Spencer writes that he interpreted what allegedly followed as evidence of Charles’ feelings toward Diana and his reaction to the enormous public grief surrounding her death.
It was at that point, Spencer alleges, that Charles told him Diana would soon be forgotten.
The allegation is Spencer’s account of a private conversation and has not been independently established. Buckingham Palace’s response disputes the reliability of his recollection rather than confirming that the exchange occurred as described.
Ultimately, William, Harry, Charles, Spencer and Prince Philip all walked behind Diana’s coffin during the funeral procession on Sept. 6, 1997.
Harry has subsequently spoken about how difficult the experience was. William and Harry have also described their participation as a collective family decision.
Spencer Says He Wants to Correct the Record About Diana
The King at a food and farming summit in Scotland earlier today (Image: Jonathan Brady/PA Wire)
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is scheduled for publication on Sept. 22, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2027.
Spencer, 62, has said he decided to write the memoir after receiving repeated requests to discuss his sister as the anniversary approached.
He says his intention is to present Diana from her brother’s perspective and address what he considers longstanding inaccuracies about her life.
Earl Spencer’s book ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister’ is due to be released on September 22(Image: Penguin Random House/PA Wire)
Earlier this week, it emerged that copies of the book were allegedly stolen in the Netherlands.
The book covers Diana’s childhood, her marriage to the then-Prince Charles and the turbulent period surrounding her death and funeral. According to its publisher, it marks the first time Spencer has spoken openly and at length about his sister in a book.
Spencer famously delivered the eulogy at Diana’s funeral, where he publicly promised that her family would help protect William and Harry.
Nearly 30 years later, his new account has reopened one of the most intensely scrutinized periods in modern royal history — while the King’s unusually direct response makes clear that Spencer’s version of those days is contested.