King Charles has issued a rare response to an alleged conversation recounted by his former brother-in-law Charles Spencer in a forthcoming book about Princess Diana.
Spencer claims that the then Prince Charles told him, shortly after Diana’s death in 1997, that the public would soon forget her. The account appears in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is due to be published on 22 September.
A spokesperson for the King said the palace did not comment on books “as a matter of principle”, but added that His Majesty was mindful of how grief could affect recollection.
“His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,” the spokesperson said.
In an extract published on Wednesday, Spencer, 62, described an alleged heated exchange with Charles after Diana died on 31 August 1997.
He wrote: “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped.”
Spencer said he initially assumed the pause was an attempt by Charles to regain control, before claiming that the future King expressed what he described as “his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death”.
He then quoted Charles as saying: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough!”
According to Spencer’s account, the disagreement also concerned whether Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral procession.
In the 2017 BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days, William said the decision for him and Harry to take part was made collectively by the family.
Harry later addressed the decision in his 2023 memoir Spare, writing that several adults had objected. He said Diana’s brother had “raised hell”, arguing: “You can’t make these boys walk behind their mother’s coffin! It’s barbaric.”
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister will be released on 22 September.
