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Buckingham Palace has issued an unusually direct response to a claim made by Charles Spencer in his forthcoming memoir about a conversation he says he had with King Charles shortly after Princess Diana's death.
In an extract from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, published by the Daily Mail on Wednesday, September 16, Spencer recalls an emotional phone call with the then-Prince of Wales following Diana's death in a Paris car crash on August 31, 1997.
According to Spencer, the disagreement began over whether Diana's sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, should walk behind their mother's coffin during her funeral procession. Spencer, who was Diana's younger brother, writes that he objected to the decision and subsequently received a phone call from Charles.
He claims the conversation became heated, describing Charles as continuing a "stream of anger" before allegedly making a remark about Diana's enduring public popularity.
"Rest assured," Spencer quotes him as saying, "we'll forget her soon enough."
Spencer writes that he interpreted the alleged comment as evidence of what he believed was Charles' "pent-up contempt for Diana" and his reaction to the enormous public response to her death.
Buckingham Palace has now addressed the claim, despite its usual position of not commenting on books.
"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," a Palace spokesperson said.
The statement does not directly repeat or explicitly deny the alleged words, but challenges the reliability of memories surrounding such an emotionally charged period.
The dispute also revisits one of the most debated moments of Diana's funeral. William and Harry, then 15 and 12 respectively, walked behind their mother's coffin as it travelled through London.
Harry later wrote in his 2023 memoir Spare that several adults had objected to the boys taking part. He recalled that his uncle Charles Spencer had strongly protested, saying, "You can't make these boys walk behind their mother's coffin! It's barbaric."
Spencer's new memoir is scheduled for publication on September 22 and is being billed as his first book in which he speaks at length about his relationship with Diana and her life.
"The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother's perspective," Spencer said when the memoir was announced. He described the project as an openly positive tribute to his sister.
The book has already attracted attention ahead of its release. On September 15, reports emerged that four copies of the Dutch-language edition had been stolen from a truck in the Netherlands while being transported from a printer to a warehouse. Dutch police are reportedly investigating the theft.
