Princess Diana‘s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, has been on a press tour following the release of his book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, and he’s come under fire for some of what he’s written.
Spencer had to apologize for one inaccuracy in his book about Piers Morgan, and is now being sued by the journalist over that. But it’s what he wrote about King Charles‘ alleged behavior and words that are getting the most attention. According to Spencer, the king was “giddily elated” and acted like a man who just “won the lottery” when he learned his ex-wife was dead.
Diana’s sibling also claimed that shortly after her death, then-Prince Charles declared, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
His accusations about the monarch garnered a rare response from Buckingham Palace 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 recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
Some of Princess Diana’s former staffers and others who worked for the royal family have accused Spencer of lying to sell books and profit off his sister’s death. And several royal commentators and experts have agreed that Spencer’s memoir is reminiscent of Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, and believe that the duke and his uncle conspired and worked together on portions of the book to try and take down the royal family.
So during one speaking engagement for Swan Song: Diana, My Sister on Sept. 29 in New York City, royal biographer and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown, who knew the princess well, pressed Spencer about Harry and things got a little awkward.
Brown asked Spencer if he encouraged Harry and Meghan to move back to the U.K., to which he responded, “Didn’t discuss it, actually.”
“Well, it’s amazing,” Brown said. “I mean, you don’t tell them that you’re writing the book, and you didn’t discuss the most incredible decision that is going to happen, and everybody’s astounded by everybody else’s behavior.”
“But is it astounding that an Englishman wants to move back to England? I don’t think so,” Spencer countered.
Brown disagreed, and reminded the Earl about Harry’s history with the British press, why he chose to leave Britain in the first place, and what he said about not bringing his family back to the country.
“There are things that he might talk about where I am totally happy to help, but I … I wouldn’t intrude … It’s up to somebody to share that stuff with me if they want to” Spencer explained. “I’m not sure how useful I’d have been about a property search or something … I think what’s interesting is, you forget, these are just regular people at heart, and this English guy’s lived in California; he wants to live in England. Seems normal.”
“Well, it’s one way of reading it,” Brown replied.
