It’s been nearly three decades since Princess Diana was killed following a car crash in Paris. And now, all these years later, a war of words has erupted between Buckingham Palace and the princess’s brother, Earl Spencer, over some explosive claims made in his memoir.
It’s rare for the Palace to ever comment on a book written about any member of the royal family, but Spencer’s allegations about King Charles‘ words and behavior after the princess’s death triggered a firm rebuttal.
“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 recognize, even many years after such a loss,” Buckingham Palace’s response read.
The Earl then fired back in an interview with the BBC, telling the outlet, “Is he [King Charles] furious, or is he embarrassed? … I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with then-Prince Charles at any stage of my life. I was hyper-alert to what he was saying … and I promise that to you now, genuinely, that is what he said. I don’t hear him saying he didn’t say that.”
Here’s more on what Earl Spencer insists King Charles said to him during that phone call when Princess Diana died, and the other major bombshells from his book.
Allegation that when Diana died, Charles said she’ll be forgotten ‘soon enough’
So what sparked the back and forth between the Earl and the Palace?
Well, according to what Diana’s brother wrote in his book, not only did then-Prince Charles sound “giddily elated” and like he just “won the lottery” when he spoke to him by phone the day the princess died, but also that Charles declared, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
Prince William, Prince Harry, and their father should not have been at Diana’s funeral
When it came to Diana’s funeral, the Earl opined in his memoir that he didn’t believe his former brother-in-law or even his sister’s children, Princes William and Harry, should have been present.
“This ex-husband, from a marriage that had collapsed so bitterly four years before and finally ended in divorce a year earlier, surely had no place at his ex’s funeral,” he wrote. “Supporting his sons was the reason given for his prominent place, but what were the boys doing there, anyway? It all seemed mad to me.
“I was anxious that I could not look sideways to check how Harry was doing. But at one point I found us marching briefly out of sight, under a massive arch. Relieved that nobody could see us here, I quickly leant across to Harry, and gave him an encouraging hug. ‘Well done, Harry!’ I said. ‘You’re doing bloody brilliantly!’”
Queen Elizabeth II’s offer to restore Diana’s honorifics posthumously was rejected
The Earl also said in his book that the late queen offered to restore Diana’s HRH title posthumously. While he called it a “well-meaning” gesture on Queen Elizabeth’s part, he felt like it was a “consolation award.”
He added that “the title should never have been removed during her life, in which case it would not have been necessary to offer it to her in death. I felt that I knew in my bones how she would view this posthumous award. That’s very kind of the queen, of course. But what’s the point … Now? I mean — Diana’s dead.”
