All the claims from Charles Spencer's Diana book, Swan Song
Who is Earl Spencer, and what has he said in Swan Song to annoy the Palace so much?
Further revelations from Charles Spencer's upcoming memoir about his sister, Princess Diana, have claimed the King was "elated, like a lottery winner," when he heard of his ex-wife's death in 1997.
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Earl Spencer has shared extracts from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, ahead of its publication in the UK on Tuesday and has become embroiled in a war of words with the Palace over his reporting of Charles.
In the memoir, which is being previewed in the Daily Mail, he said he told the then Prince of Wales in 1997 that he did not agree with Princes William and Harry walking behind their mother's coffin at the funeral.
Earl Spencer said Charles responded: "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough."
The Firm has responded with uncharacteristic emotion, with a response that 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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Read more: Spencer may have had 'relatively low' newspaper deal for Diana book serialisation
Who is Charles Spencer?
Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, is a writer and peer, having started his career as a journalist.
The 62-year-old was born three years after his older sister, Lady Diana Spencer, the one-time Princess of Wales and the first wife of the now King Charles.
Diana died in 1997 when she was 36, and he was 33.
Earl Spencer, who has been married four times and has seven children, has been increasingly personal in his writings, moving on from British aristocratic history to his own life.
His 2024 memoir, A Very Private School, claims he suffered abuse at the now-closed Maidwell Hall school.
Swan Song is his tenth work, and he said that it is his most personal yet.
He posted on Instagram: "At heart, this is a brother’s simple tribute to an extraordinary sister.
A month ago I read ‘Swan Song’ out, over three days, for a recording so that it could be available on audiobook. When I finished the recording, I thought: “That is exactly what I wanted and needed to say - and she would, I reckon, have approved of every word.”
What has he said about Diana in Swan Song book?
The book is not released until September 22, but extracts have been printed ahead of the release in the Mail.
'Stream of anger'
The Earl claims that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, subjected him to a “stream of anger” after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.
According to a book excerpt, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s senior aides told him that William and Harry were to walk in the procession, prompting the Earl to state “that’s not going to happen”.
Charles called minutes later and told him that 18 years earlier he had walked in the funeral procession of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, it is claimed.
In the book, the Earl claims: “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped.
“I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he 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!’.”
Mohamed Al Fayed 'groped Diana's buttocks'
Billionaire serial abuser Mohamed Al Fayed groped Diana's buttocks early in her romance with his son, Dodi, Earl Spencer claimed.
He wrote: “She (Diana) told me with revulsion how, early in her romance with Dodi, Mohamed had come up to her, dropped a hand onto her buttocks and squeezed them while saying in a leery, suggestive tone, ‘And in Egypt, father-in-law gets first go…'”
King 'giddily elated like a lottery winner' after Diana died
The King sounded “giddily elated… like a lottery winner” when he rang the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, following her death, Earl Spencer’s new memoir claims.
One passage read: “Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.
He added: “Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.”
Charles Spencer was initially told the Paris 1997 crash was 'not too serious'
Earl Spencer said his sister Jane called him to say that the Paris crash that killed Diana was "not too serious".
But he then got more calls with increasing urgency. "And then my sister Jane said, 'I'm afraid she's died.' It started... as a little prang, and then it became a broken leg, perhaps a head injury, and then death."
Comments will 'not be a surprise' to Charles and Royals
In an interview to promote the book, Earl Spencer said that none of what has been written will surprise The Firm.
Earl Spencer said: "I don't like to talk about what I've been speaking about to William and Harry, but this will not be a surprise to them."