Earl Spencer has accused King Charles of “gaslighting” him after the Palace questioned the accuracy of his account of an alleged conversation following Princess Diana’s death.
Spencer claims that, during a furious argument over whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin, the then Prince of Wales told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
The Palace issued an unusual response last week, saying 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”.
Spencer, 62, said the statement amounted to an accusation that he had lied without directly denying his version of events.
“It is not every day you wake up to find you’ve been gaslit by the King,” he said.
“It was astonishingly provocative and below the belt because it was essentially trying to say I’d lied without the King being able to deny what I’d said.
“I also thought it was a rather poor imitation of the ‘recollections may vary’ quote, which was a much more elegant way of putting things, but in these circumstances entirely out of place.”
The earl made the comments while defending his memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, in which he writes about his relationship with Diana and the events surrounding her death in 1997.
He denied suggestions that he was seeking to profit from his sister’s memory, saying financial considerations had played no part in his decision to write the book.
“Money has never even been the remotest consideration in my choosing to write my tribute to Diana,” he said.
“I am a historian – I appreciate that a lot of the public don’t know that – and my primary responsibility as a historian is to tell the truth.
“My motivation in this book has been to tell the truth about Diana and all she had to put up with in her public life through the eyes of the brother who grew up with her.”
Spencer said he had told close friends and family about the alleged confrontation immediately because it was “so monstrous”. He also said he had discussed the furious row with a trusted confidant in the week before Diana’s funeral.
He said Diana would have supported the memoir, adding: “I can tell you that Diana would be cheering from the rafters at this book, I have no doubt about that.”
The earl also describes in the book how he read his funeral address to Diana’s coffin privately in a chapel at St James’s Palace, where her body lay for five days before the service.
“I sensed so strongly that day that she would have applauded those words and I feel equally strongly today that she would be fully behind this book,” he said.
King Charles allegation disputed
Spencer’s memoir includes further claims about his relationship with Charles, including an account of a conversation at the funeral of his father, John Spencer, at Althorp.
He alleges that Charles told him he was “so lucky” to be inheriting his family estate while still in his twenties, and that the future King stamped his foot like a “petulant” child during the exchange.
The Palace has declined to comment on the other claims in the memoir. Its statement on the alleged remarks following Diana’s death said it did not comment on books as a matter of principle.
Some public figures have questioned Spencer’s account. Veteran broadcaster David Dimbleby described him as “a curious fellow” and said he had questions to answer about “the extent to which he is a genuine defender” of Diana.
Former Conservative MP Rory Stewart, who tutored William and Harry, said he “simply cannot believe” that Charles made the remark attributed to him.
“It’s just not his character, it’s not his personality. Never ever have I heard him say anything like that,” he said.
