Buckingham Palace Responds to Earl Spencer’s Claims Over King Charles in Diana Memoir

Buckingham Palace has issued a rare and pointed response following dramatic claims made by Earl Spencer, the brother of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, who alleged that King Charles III dismissively suggested the public would quickly move past her memory shortly after her tragic death in 1997.

Addressing the sensational allegations published in an extract from Earl Spencer’s upcoming memoir, a spokesperson representing Buckingham Palace noted that King Charles remains conscious of how deep personal bereavement can alter one’s recollections. While reiterating that the royal household generally refrains from addressing claims made in published books as standard practice, the Palace offered an exception to contextualize the Earl's account.

According to the statement released by the Palace spokesperson, His Majesty recognizes 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 carefully worded statement reflects the enduring sensitivity surrounding the events that followed Princess Diana's death nearly three decades ago.

The controversy was ignited by an excerpt from Spencer's new book, titled *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister*, which was published in the Daily Mail ahead of its official release. In the text, the Earl details a tense dispute with Charles, then the Prince of Wales, regarding the funeral arrangements for Princess Diana following her fatal car accident in Paris.

At the heart of the disagreement was whether Princess Diana's two young sons—Prince William, who was 15 years old at the time, and Prince Harry, then just 12—should be required to walk directly behind their mother’s coffin during the public funeral procession through the streets of London.

Earl Spencer writes that he strongly objected to the plan after being notified by a high-ranking Palace aide, arguing vehemently that his late sister would never have wished for her grieving children to be placed in such a demanding and public-facing role during their moment of acute mourning.

Following his objection, Earl Spencer claims he received an immediate telephone call from Prince Charles, during which the future King allegedly vented his anger. Spencer recounts in the memoir that Charles directed a "stream of anger" toward him over the phone, reacting harshly to the Earl's resistance to the planned ceremonial procession.

In the published excerpt, Spencer interprets Charles’s fiery response as reflecting long-standing resentment and disbelief at the unprecedented global outpouring of sorrow. He wrote that Charles unleashed what Spencer perceived to be "his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death." Spencer claimed Charles concluded the exchange by hissing: "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough."

The forthcoming publication of *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister*, which is slated to hit bookshelves next week, is widely expected to deliver a sharply critical appraisal of the Royal Family’s conduct. Media organizations, including BBC News, have noted that they have not yet had access to review the full, unreleased volume prior to publication.

The memoir threatens to reopen one of the most tumultuous and painful chapters in modern royal history. Following the sudden death of Diana, an internationally celebrated figure, the royal institution faced intense public anger and accusations of being emotionally distant, out of touch, and insufficiently empathetic to the widespread national mourning.

The friction between the royal establishment and Diana's family was openly cemented during her funeral at Westminster Abbey, where Earl Spencer delivered a fiercely emotional and defiant eulogy that publicly took aim at the treatment his sister had received, deepening the lingering atmosphere of grievance surrounding her untimely demise.

The contentious issue of the young princes walking behind the cortege has also been addressed by Prince Harry in past years. The Duke of Sussex previously stated that compelling a 12-year-old child to walk behind his mother's coffin in full view of thousands on the streets and millions watching worldwide was something no youngster should ever be asked to endure.

Nevertheless, Prince Harry’s perspective on the event has carried nuances over time. In an interview with the BBC in 2017, he remarked that he did not hold a definitive view on whether the decision was ultimately right or wrong, adding that, upon looking back at the historic day, he felt glad to have taken part in honoring his mother alongside his family.

The anticipation surrounding the book has also been marked by unusual real-world intrigue. Prior to the release of the Daily Mail extract, news surfaced that multiple copies of the book's Dutch-language translation had been stolen in transit within the Netherlands, taken directly from a distribution truck traveling between the printing facility and a warehouse.

The theft involved four advance copies of the Dutch edition, an unexpected development that has only heightened global attention on the memoir. As the official release date nears, Earl Spencer’s claims and the Palace’s rare public counter-statement underline how deeply the unresolved tensions of 1997 continue to shape the public narrative around the Royal Family.