Earl Spencer has claimed that King Charles sounded “giddily elated” when he telephoned after the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, saying the conversation felt strangely matter-of-fact despite the tragedy.
The allegation appears in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, a memoir by Diana’s brother. Excerpts published in the Daily Mail describe a call made after the princess was killed in a car crash in 1997.
Writing about the conversation, Earl Spencer said Charles had sounded unlike others who contacted him after Diana’s death.
“Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time,” he wrote.
He said Charles told him he had informed William and Harry of their mother’s death in their bedrooms at Balmoral that morning.
“It all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster,” Earl Spencer wrote. He added: “Looking back now, I suspect the prince’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.”
Buckingham Palace responded to the claims with a brief statement, saying it did not comment on books as a matter of principle.
A palace spokesman said: “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.”
