Buckingham Palace Addresses Earl Spencer’s Claims Regarding King Charles in Upcoming Diana Memoir

Buckingham Palace has issued a formal response following allegations made by Earl Spencer concerning King Charles in a newly revealed extract from his upcoming memoir. The claims centre on a deeply contentious telephone conversation that took place in the immediate aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.

According to Earl Spencer, Diana’s brother, the then-Prince of Wales directed a fierce barrage of anger toward him during discussions surrounding the arrangements for Diana’s funeral. The most striking allegation details King Charles reportedly asserting that the late princess would soon be forgotten by the public.

The contentious exchange reportedly stemmed from a sharp disagreement over the role of Prince William and Prince Harry in the funeral proceedings. Earl Spencer maintained that Diana would never have wanted her young sons, who were aged just 15 and 12 at the time, to walk behind her coffin in the public procession through London.

In response to the publication of the extract, Buckingham Palace offered a measured statement addressing the claims. A spokesperson for the Palace indicated that while there is an established convention against commenting directly on published memoirs, the emotional toll of losing a sibling must be acknowledged when assessing such recollections.

The Palace spokesperson stated that His Majesty remains mindful of how the profound weight of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and colour memory in manners that others might not recognise, even decades after such a tragic bereavement.

The disputed claims are featured in Earl Spencer’s forthcoming book, titled *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister*, which is scheduled to arrive in bookshops next week. The memoir, an excerpt of which was initially published by the Daily Mail, is widely anticipated to offer an intensely critical perspective on the Royal Family.

In the published excerpt, Earl Spencer recounts being contacted by a senior royal aide who informed him of the decision that William and Harry would join the cortege walking behind Diana's coffin. Spencer vehemently opposed the plan, arguing it was contrary to what his sister would have wished for her children.

Shortly following his objection to the Palace official, Earl Spencer alleges he received a direct phone call from Charles. The author describes the conversation as an eruption of hostility from the royal heir, who he believes was reacting against the extraordinary outpouring of global grief for Diana.

Earl Spencer wrote in the book that Charles unleashed what he perceived to be long-held contempt for Diana, alongside deep frustration over the immense public mourning. According to Spencer's account, Charles hissed down the line: "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough."

The emergence of these claims brings renewed scrutiny to one of the most tumultuous periods in modern royal history. Diana’s untimely death in a car crash in Paris in 1997 generated an intensely volatile public atmosphere across Britain and the wider world.

During the days following the crash, the Royal Family faced widespread public criticism and accusations of being detached, cold, and out of touch with the national mood. The immense popularity of the Princess of Wales contrasted sharply with the perceived reserve of the royal household at the time.

Earl Spencer’s own actions during that period played a significant role in heightening tensions between the two families. His impassioned and defiant eulogy delivered inside Westminster Abbey at Diana’s funeral publicly challenged the royal establishment and added to the lingering grievances surrounding her death.

The question of whether the young princes should have walked in the funeral cortege has remained a subject of discussion over the years. Prince Harry has previously commented publicly on the experience, remarking that walking behind his mother's coffin at 12 years old was a task no child should ever have been asked to undertake.

However, Prince Harry has also offered a nuanced reflection on that fateful day. In a 2017 interview with the BBC, the Duke of Sussex explained that he did not hold a definitive view on whether the decision was right or wrong, adding that, looking back with hindsight, he was ultimately glad to have been part of the procession.

Ahead of the book’s worldwide release, the publication process has already experienced unusual disruption. Earlier on Wednesday, reports confirmed that four copies of the unreleased Dutch-language edition of the memoir were stolen from a transport lorry in the Netherlands while traveling from the printer to a distribution warehouse.

With the complete volume set to reach the public shortly, the memoir is poised to revisit sensitive historical wounds and reignite debate over the Royal Family's conduct. BBC News has noted that it has not yet reviewed the full text of *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister*.