An upcoming memoir revisits a painful call King Charles allegedly had with Princess Diana’s brother. The call reportedly took place just days after her death. Charles Spencer recalls the alleged remark in his forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.
The Daily Mail published an excerpt on September 16. The argument was reportedly about Diana’s funeral and whether Prince William and Prince Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin. Spencer wrote, “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped. I assumed the pause signaled 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!’”
After the remark, Buckingham Palace has now responded. According to People, the palace initially declined to comment. However, it has now spoken through a spokesperson for Charles.
The representative 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 color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
According to The Guardian, Spencer said he really didn’t want the boys to go through that. William was only 15, while Harry was 12. He said palace officials told him the boys actually wanted to be a part of the procession. This eventually made him agree.
Years later, Spencer said he realized that was not the case. “I was told that they wanted to do it and that they would like it if I were there; I now know that’s not true,” he said. He also felt that “tradition and duty went too far against human nature.” Years later, in a 2017 BBC Radio 4 interview, Spencer called the situation “bizarre and cruel.”
He described the walk as “the most horrifying half an hour of my life.” Spencer added, “It must have been a million times worse for them.” He also noted, “It was the worst part of the day by a considerable margin, walking behind my sister’s body with two boys who were obviously massively grieving their mother.”
Spencer concluded, “Then eventually I was lied to and told that they wanted to do it, which of course they didn’t, but I didn’t realise that.” Diana died on August 31, 1997, after the car she was traveling in crashed into the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris.
Just six days later, on September 6, her funeral was held at Westminster Abbey. Diana was later buried at the Spencer family estate, Althorp. Meanwhile, Spencer’s memoir explores Diana’s life and death.
According to the BBC, he said, “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.” Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is set to come out on September 22, 2026, just ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death.
