VF: King Charles is still hosting a huge pity party over the Earl Spencer’s ‘Swan Song’

The most amazing thing about the past week is Buckingham Palace’s bungled PR around Charles Spencer’s Swan Song. I imagine the catastrophic PR is a function of King Charles’ bad judgment and terrible management style, where he’s surrounded by sycophants who are incapable of telling him not to gaslight his former brother-in-law when his BIL is still giving interviews. The selective complaining and explaining when it comes to Princess Diana’s memory is always remarkable to behold. Guilty conscience much? Even more remarkable, if you read between the lines of the palace’s increasingly clownish briefings on the Earl Spencer, you can tell that: A) both of the king’s sons are letting their father crash out alone, without offering assistance and B) that the king has no idea that his PR isn’t landing at all. From the palace’s briefings to Vanity Fair’s Katie Nicholl:

Concerns about Harry!! King Charles is concerned about the impact that Charles Spencer’s bombshell memoir about his late sister, Princess Diana, will have on Prince William and Prince Harry, a source tells Vanity Fair.

The palace won’t issue any additional statements about Swan Song: “The palace is not going to say anything else,” a source told Vanity Fair. “It will be a case of keep calm and carry on, but William will have been following this story closely. He will be furious about what’s been said and very angry with Spencer for airing the laundry in public.”

The king’s fury: Sources close to King Charles say the monarch is “furious” about the claims made by his former brother-in-law and “incredibly hurt.”

The king won’t read Swan Song or the coverage of the book! “[King Charles] won’t be reading the papers. He doesn’t look at them. He will have been briefed by his private secretaries as to what’s in the book, but he won’t be reading it all,” said a family friend. According to a second source who has spent time with King Charles in recent days, “There is a great sense of hurt, frustration, and deep disappointment” among the wider royal family over the book.

The Earl Spencer is ruining all kinds of royal relations: “There is a real sense that this is opening up old wounds. It’s very sad, and there is also a worry that this could impact not only the Spencer family’s relationship with William and Harry but progress between the king and his youngest son,” the source said. Prince Harry, who spent time with his uncle at Althorp this summer, has not commented on Spencer’s book. During his interview with the BBC on Sunday, Spencer said his recollection of what Prince Charles allegedly said about Diana’s being “forgotten” would not come as a surprise to his nephews.

[From Vanity Fair]

Source: “There is also a worry that this could impact not only the Spencer family’s relationship with William and Harry but progress between the king and his youngest son…” Translation: King Charles is going to keep throwing tantrums until Harry and William distance themselves publicly from the Spencers. William has already distanced himself from the Spencers, but William is actually fine with his dad getting some lashings from Uncle Charles. Bonus translation: The Earl Spencer said hurty words and it will affect Harry and his father’s relationship, because the king is really THAT petty and thin-skinned. Additionally, I pity the private secretaries who had to brief Charles about the “in love with his valet” section.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.