'Grief can colour memory': King hits back at Earl Spencer allegation that he said 'we'll forget' Diana after princess's death
The King has hit back at the explosive claims laid out by Earl Spencer, the brother of the late Princess of Wales, in an extract from his upcoming memoir
King Charles has hit back at claims that he told Princess Diana's brother, “we’ll forget her soon enough”, days after her death.
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The claims were laid out by Earl Spencer, the brother of the late Princess of Wales, in an extract from his upcoming memoir published by the Daily Mail.
Spencer claimed the former Prince of Wales levelled a "stream of anger" at him after insisting that Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.
The claim has been strongly rebuked by Buckingham Palace, who have said Charles Spencer's grief of losing his sister had caused his memory of events to be distorted.
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According to a spokesperson: "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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss."
Spencer’s book, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister”, is set to be published next week and is expected to be highly critical of the Royal Family.
In the book’s first public extract, Earl Spencer claims a senior Palace aide told him William and Harry would walk alongside the late Princess’s coffin, which he objected to. He claims Charles called him shortly after.
In the book, Earl Spencer writes: "He [Charles] unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. 'Rest assured,' he hissed, 'we'll forget her soon enough.”
Senior royals are expected to follow through with engagements on Thursday despite the explosive claims laid out by the book.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, who also hold the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, are expected to make their first official visit to the Isle of Bute.
The day will include visiting their namesake town of Rothesay, which follows their visits to the Isles of Mull and Iona last year.
The Duchess of Edinburgh is set to visit Zambia, as a celebrate the relationship between Zambia and the UK.
Meanwhile, the Princess Royal will attend the opening of a new History Centre at the German Military Cemetery in Staffordshire.
The book will mark the first time that Earl Spencer, 62, has spoken at length about his sibling, three decades after her death.
Speaking about the book, he said: “With the 30th anniversary of Diana’s tragic death on the skyline, I’ve been inundated yet again with requests for interviews about my sister.
“This has convinced me to write down my own thoughts and memories, once and for all, rather than having the discomfort of again reading the opinions of others, many of which are based on untruths that have become accepted over time.
“The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral.
“As with my eulogy, I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way.
“I hope this book will be of interest to the many who still cherish the memory of Diana when she was alive, and I would be delighted if those too young to remember her in her heyday feel – after reading this – that they ‘get’ who she really was: a one-off dynamic character, full of love, charisma and self-doubt, who gave life a hell of a go, and left the world a better place, despite exiting the stage while still so young.”
During Diana’s funeral in 1997, Earl Spencer delivered a passionate eulogy in which he pointedly referred to his sister’s “blood family”.
Daniel Bunyard, publishing director at Penguin Random House UK, added: “This is a book of historic importance, telling as it does the story of one of the 20th century’s most iconic and culturally significant figures, but it is also utterly unique in being written by Earl Spencer, from a vantage point of such intimacy.
“Charles Spencer is both a loving brother and an acclaimed memoirist as well as a celebrated historian, and all these facets are brought together in Swan Song.
“It is extraordinarily moving, beautifully written and remarkably candid, in no small part due to Charles’ rare ability to access great emotional depth without sentimentality, honest observation without rancour, and warmth without gloss.
“While these pages contain many revelations that will draw considerable attention, readers will find, for the first time, but also for all time, a fitting tribute to the beloved woman who was Princess Diana.”
Born into the aristocratic Spencer family in 1961, Diana married the King, then Prince of Wales, in 1981 and had sons William and Harry. The couple divorced in 1996.
She died in August 1997 in a car crash in Paris at the age of 36. Her partner, Dodi Fayed, and their chauffeur Henri Paul also died in the crash.
Her death led to widespread public mourning and her funeral was watched by more than two billion people worldwide.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister will be published on September 22.