Buckingham Palace Responds to Earl Spencer's Claims About King Charles

Buckingham Palace issued a rare public response on Wednesday evening to claims made by Earl Spencer in his forthcoming memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, addressing allegations that King Charles made callous remarks following the 1997 death of Princess Diana.

Nearly three decades after the death of Princess Diana in a Paris car crash, a fresh round of controversy has erupted around the royal family following the serialisation of Earl Spencer’s new memoir. The book, due for publication next week, has brought forward highly personal and contested accounts of the turbulent days preceding the 1997 funeral procession.

Earl Spencer’s Allegations Concerning the 1997 Funeral Procession

In extracts published by the Daily Mail, the 9th Earl Spencer claims that a senior Palace aide informed him that Princes William and Harry would participate in the funeral procession behind their mother’s coffin. Spencer writes that he strongly opposed the plan, believing Diana would have wanted to spare her young sons from intense public scrutiny.

A composite image shows on the left Charles wearing a dark suit, blue shirt and red and blue tie, and Diana next to him — Photo: BBC

According to Spencer’s account, the disagreement escalated when then-Prince Charles telephoned him. Spencer also says he believed Buckingham Palace wanted William and Harry and himself to walk behind Diana’s coffin because the then prince was “adamant” he was going to walk and palace officials feared members of the public might shout abuse at him. By getting Diana’s sons to walk, that would surely guarantee against insults flying, he wrote. Spencer alleges that the conversation turned hostile, with Charles directing a stream of anger at him.

Buckingham Palace Responds to Earl Spencer's Claims About King Charles — Photo: Theguardian

In another explosive extract reported from the memoir, Spencer also writes that Charles sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner in a phone call to him immediately after her death. Spencer adds that the prince’s reaction all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster, writing that he suspected Charles’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.

Spencer’s memoir claims Charles said we'll forget her soon enough during a 1997 dispute over William & Harry walking behind Diana’s coffin. Spencer opposed, and Charles defended the decision.

Buckingham Palace Delivers an Unprecedented Response

Buckingham Palace maintains a strict general policy of declining to comment on books written about members of the Royal Family. However, the institution broke that precedent swiftly on Wednesday evening, issuing a pointed statement addressing the memoir’s claims little over an hour after the Daily Mail published its first extract online.

Buckingham Palace issued a robust response on Wednesday evening, saying in a statement: 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 language is reminiscent of Queen Elizabeth’s unexpectedly firm response to claims of racism by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex in 2021, with the comment that recollections may vary.

Wider Claims Across the Memoir and Family Tensions

Charles Spencer’s book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is published globally on September 22, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death next year. Diana died on August 31, 1997, aged 36, after a car crash in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris, leaving Britain quickly overwhelmed by public grief as flowers piled up outside royal residences.

Earl Spencer makes bombshell claims about King Charles | 7NEWS

Since Earl Spencer’s eulogy at his sister’s funeral almost 30 years ago, he has in large part borne responsibility for the legacy of Diana, the late Princess of Wales. The two younger Spencer siblings, who bonded early in life through their parents’ bitter divorce, were separated by only three years in age. As with my eulogy, I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way, the Earl said when announcing his new memoir.

Letters that caused months-long estrangement between the Princess and her brother also resurface in coverage surrounding the book’s release, detailing the rows that plagued Earl Spencer and Diana’s relationship, which was defined by periods of both closeness and coolness.

The row threatens to overshadow a very crowded day for the royals—with the King, Prince William and Catherine attending events, and Prince Harry making his first big appearance since returning to the UK.

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