Earl Spencer has denied making a “threat” to King Charles, despite claiming during an interview that he “knows lots of things” about the monarch.
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg in a 30-minute BBC sit-down over the weekend, Diana’s brother, 62, made the remarks before his memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, hits shelves on Tuesday.
The Earl stated that potentially damaging details about the King were deliberately left out of the book because they lacked relevance, claiming: “I know lots of things about the King which I chose not to include in the book because they were not relevant.”
He also claimed that neither Prince William nor Prince Harry would find his revelations surprising.
Earl Spencer has issued what many are interpreting as a veiled threat to King Charles, declaring during a BBC interview that he ‘knows lots of things’ about the monarch
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GETTY
When Ms Kuenssberg suggested the statement amounted to a threat, Earl Spencer dismissed the characterisation: “No, not at all a threat; it’s just the reality. If I was a salacious writer and wanted to write that sort of thing, I have plenty of other things I could have said.”
In Swan Song, Earl Spencer alleges that the then Prince of Wales appeared “giddily elated” during a phone conversation following Diana’s death in Paris in 1997, comparing his demeanour to that of a “lottery winner.”
Perhaps most explosively, the Earl claims King Charles told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” The remark was allegedly made during a disagreement about whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin at her funeral.
Earl Spencer revealed that part of his famous eulogy was crafted as a direct response to that alleged comment: “If you get to the final bit of my eulogy, it is that her fantastic qualities ‘will never be extinguished from our minds’. It was a direct rebuttal of, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough.'”
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg in a 30-minute BBC sit-down over the weekend, Diana’s brother, 62, made the remarks before his memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, hits shelves on Tuesday
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BBC
Buckingham Palace responded to Earl Spencer’s claims by attributing his account to the distorting effects of “fraternal grief.” During the interview, Ms Kuenssberg informed the Earl that the Palace had effectively said his version of events “didn’t happen.”
Earl Spencer pushed back firmly: “Well, they haven’t actually, Laura. They’ve sort of smudged that one, haven’t they?”
He also drew a parallel with the Palace’s response to Prince Harry and Meghan’s 2021 Oprah interview, noting: “They’ve said that recollections may vary.”
When Ms Kuenssberg suggested the King was “plainly furious,” Earl Spencer offered a pointed retort: “Well, is he furious, or is he embarrassed? Because I can tell you, here and now, those are exactly the words he said. I don’t hear him saying he didn’t say that.”
Diana’s younger brother indicated he had previously shared the claims with both nephews
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BBCEarl Spencer conceded, however, that he could not be entirely certain about what was going through King Charles’s mind during their exchange. Ms Kuenssberg put it to him that he was suggesting “in black and white” that the King “felt that Diana’s death was rather convenient, because he would be able to marry Camilla.”
“That is how I felt at the time from the tone of his voice,” the Earl replied.
Pressed on whether he could be sure of the King’s thinking, Earl Spencer shook his head: “I cannot be sure. I’m saying that’s what I assume from the tone is a possibility, and that’s all I can do.”
He also brought his nephews into the dispute, saying: “This will not be a surprise to them.”
Earl Spencer described the book as a “brother’s tribute, a loving tribute to a sister,” insisting: “I think she deserves honesty, so that’s what I’ve delivered.”
When Ms Kuenssberg raised the possibility that his claims were designed to generate sales, Earl Spencer said he had been “accused of lots of things.”
On the rift between his nephews, the Earl expressed hope it would one day be resolved, adding that “of course a mother would want her two sons to be happy together and love each other.”
He also voiced concern about Harry lacking police protection as fifth in line to the throne, saying: “As an uncle who has seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances . . . I would veer towards protection.”
Growing emotional, Earl Spencer declared the book his “final word” on Diana, pledging to “step off into the sunset” and offer no further comment.