A Buckingham Palace spokesman has hit out at Earl Charles Spencer’s new book about Princess Diana, in which he claimed King Charles said “we’ll forget Diana soon enough” just days after her death.
In his new book, Swan Song, the Earl writes: “Then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!'”
In response, a Buckingham Palace spokesman told GB News: “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 book, which Earl Spencer says was written to set the record straight against “untruths” about his older sister, contains a series of further allegations about Diana’s marriage to Charles and the turbulent period following her fatal 1997 Paris car crash.
The confrontation arose from a dispute over whether Princes William and Harry, aged just 15 and 12 at the time, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the funeral procession.
According to a serialisation in The Mail, Earl Spencer writes that he opposed the plan, arguing Diana would never have wanted her young sons subjected to such a gruelling public spectacle.
When one of the late Queen’s most senior aides informed him the boys would participate, Earl Spencer claims he replied: “That’s not going to happen.”
Within minutes, the then-Prince of Wales telephoned to press the case, citing his own experience walking in Lord Mountbatten’s funeral procession 18 years earlier.
Earl Spencer and King Charles picured in 2004 | PA
According to the memoir, King Charles “went nuts” when Earl Spencer countered that the then-Prince of Wales had been 30 years old at the time of that 1979 ceremony, a far cry from the ages of his grieving sons.
Earl Spencer then writes that King Charles “continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting” before falling silent.
The Earl writes: “Then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!'”
Earl Spencer claimed being left speechless for several seconds by the alleged outburst, writing: “‘I can’t believe you just said that,’ I said flatly, before hanging up.”
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Earl Spencer and Princess Diana pictured in 1985 | GETTY
According to Earl Spencer, the exchange came after King Charles also questioned the Spencer family’s commitment to duty.
The allegations threaten to reopen wounds from the War of the Waleses, the bitter breakdown and eventual divorce of King Charles and Princess Diana that captivated the world. The memoir has been described as “historic” and “extraordinarily moving.”
On September 6, 1997, six days after Diana’s death, Earl Spencer delivered a eulogy at Westminster Abbey that would later be recognised as one of the greatest speeches of the twentieth century.
He had walked behind his sister’s coffin alongside William, Harry, Prince Charles and Prince Philip in a procession through central London watched by an estimated 2.5 billion viewers around the globe.
Earl Charles Spencer’s forthcoming book, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is scheduled for release on September 22 | PENGUIN
Beyond the funeral row, the book reportedly contains a raft of extraordinary claims concerning Diana’s failed marriage and the chaotic aftermath of her death.
Swan Song is due for worldwide release next Tuesday, published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin Random House.
Meanwhile, Dutch police are investigating what publishing sources have described as the “extremely suspicious” theft of four copies of the memoir from a lorry earlier this week. The vehicle, carrying thousands of copies concealed in black plastic wrapping, was broken into overnight in a car park while its driver slept in the cab, according to the Mail.