Prince William ignored a question about his uncle Charles Spencer’s ‘Swan Song’

Before he attended last night’s royal premiere of Digger, Prince William visited ActOne in West London. ActOne is a community space, led by volunteers, and it includes a movie theater and a cafe. William was seemingly there as BAFTA president. Meaning, Tuesday was his “BAFTA day,” his one day to do events related to film and the British movie theaters. So far, so boring. Except that when he was walking into this event, someone called out to him, asking him about Charles Spencer’s book, which was released on Tuesday. William ignored the question.

Prince William refused to answer questions about his uncle Earl Spencer’s book on his late mother Princess Diana this morning as he visited a community cinema.

The Prince of Wales was on a trip to ActOne in Acton, west London, in an effort to highlight the British film industry and community spirit of independent cinemas. But William’s visit risked being overshadowed by the ongoing row surrounding the earl’s new book ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister’ which went on sale this morning.

The earl has made claims including that King Charles said ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’ after Diana died and he sounded ‘giddily elated’ in the wake of the crash. This has prompted a war of words between him and Buckingham Palace, which said in a responding statement that ‘the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason’.

As William walked up the steps to the cinema on Acton High Street today, a reporter asked him: ‘Sir, how do you feel about your uncle’s book, have you read it?’

But the prince ignored the question as he quickly made his way inside through the open entrance doors, while one royal fan shouted: ‘We love you, William!’

William was visiting ActOne, which opened in 2021 after a group of more than 100 volunteers restored the area’s Passmore Edwards community library. The site was turned into a two-screen cinema, café and community space – which is now run by a small team of full-time staff and a large group of volunteers. In addition to blockbusters, the cinema shows the latest independent British films, world cinema, documentaries, film festival screenings and filmmaker events.

[From The Daily Mail]

I’m including the video below – if I’m not mistaken, that was the Times’ Roya Nikkhah calling out the question to William, which he ignored. Meaning… William was not being “heckled.” It’s quite common for royal reporters to call out questions as royals are walking by, just as it’s common for royals to ignore those reporters. There’s a concerted effort to portray William as incandescent or consumed with betrayal over his uncle’s book. And that’s interesting, right? Because from what I can see… William hasn’t said anything or done anything. Buckingham Palace is trying to drag William into King Charles’ PR disaster and William seems content to just stay silent and let everything play out.

Prince William asked how he feels about his uncle’s book. He’s then asked if he has read Charles Spencer’s controversial Swan Song about his mother, Princess Diana, which contains contentious claims about William’s father, King Charles… pic.twitter.com/FOeaLrpkhA

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) September 22, 2026

Photos courtesy of Cover Images.