Buckingham Palace has rejected a claim by Earl Spencer that King Charles said Princess Diana would soon be forgotten, warning that grief can affect memory and judgement.
The unusually pointed response followed the publication of details from Charles Spencer’s forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, in which he describes an alleged telephone confrontation with the then Prince of Wales in the days after Diana’s death.
According to the earl’s account, the argument centred on whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral procession in September 1997.
Spencer writes that he objected because William, then 15, and Harry, 12, would be subjected to an ordeal Diana would not have wanted. He says he told Charles: “That’s not going to happen.”
He claims Charles then challenged the Spencer family’s sense of duty and referred to having walked in the funeral procession of Lord Mountbatten in 1979, when he was 30.
Spencer says the conversation became increasingly angry after he pointed out the difference in their ages. He alleges that Charles eventually told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough!”
Writing that he was “so stunned” by the remark, Spencer says he replied: “I can’t believe you just said that,” before ending the call.
Buckingham Palace responds to Earl Spencer’s memoir
A Royal 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 judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
The wording has been compared with the late Queen Elizabeth II’s response to claims made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, when she said that “recollections may vary”.
A source close to the King said the alleged remark about Diana was “just not in his nature”, adding that it would not have been in his nature at the time because he was “absolutely grief-stricken”.
The source also said Charles had overruled Royal protocol to ensure that Diana was given a full state-style ceremonial funeral.
Peter Hunt, a former BBC royal correspondent, said the King was “clearly absolutely incandescent”. Royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams described Spencer’s allegations as “destructive” and said they had been released during a difficult period for the Royal Family.
Diana died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, aged 36. Six days later, Spencer walked behind her coffin alongside William, Harry, Charles and Prince Philip, before delivering a eulogy at Westminster Abbey.
The memoir is presented by Spencer as an attempt to correct what he describes as “untruths” told about his older sister. It is due to be published worldwide next Tuesday and contains further claims about Diana’s marriage and the aftermath of her death.
