Earl Spencer has begun legal action over a podcast which alleged that he was on bad terms with his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, before her death and had refused to let her stay at Althorp.
The programme, produced by The Spectator magazine and featuring former Cabinet minister Michael Gove, discussed Spencer’s memoir with assistant editor Madeline Grant. It also accused him of “monetising” his sister’s death through the publication of the book.
Spencer has demanded that the podcast be removed from The Spectator’s website. His spokesman said the claim that Diana had asked to stay at Althorp with Princes William and Harry during the summer of 1997, only to be refused because paparazzi might trouble the family, was untrue.
“She never asked to stay that summer,” the spokesman said. “She would not have done, as Althorp was open to the public throughout the summer months. But had she asked, he would have done everything possible to make it happen.”
The spokesman added that Spencer had offered Diana a choice of 12 homes on the Althorp estate, as well as Wormleighton Manor, after the breakdown of her marriage and in accordance with police advice about her safety.
“Earl Spencer never turned his sister away,” he said. “Earl Spencer has asked The Spectator to correct the record. People are entitled to whatever opinion they like of his book – they are not entitled to invent how he treated his sister.”
Mr Gove has declined to comment.
