King Charles Faces Rare Palace Intervention Over Earl Spencer’s Claims About Princess Diana

Buckingham Palace has issued an unusually forceful response to a claim by Earl Spencer that then-Prince Charles told him, days after Princess Diana’s death, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”

The allegation appears in Spencer’s forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, in which Diana’s younger brother revisits the bitter disputes surrounding her funeral in 1997.

Rather than addressing the claim directly, the Palace pointed to the effect grief can have on memory and judgment, saying His Majesty is mindful that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”

The statement was particularly striking because the Royal Family traditionally avoids commenting on books. It has been widely described by royal commentators as an unusually robust intervention.

Earl Spencer’s account of the phone call

In Swan Song, Earl Spencer, 62, describes a heated disagreement with Charles over whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin.

Diana died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, aged 36. In the days that followed, Spencer says he was informed by a senior royal aide that William and Harry, then 15 and 12 respectively, would take part in the funeral procession.

Spencer objected, arguing that Diana would not have wanted her sons to endure such a public ordeal.

He recalls that Charles subsequently telephoned him and questioned the Spencer family’s sense of duty. The then-Prince of Wales reportedly referred to his own experience of walking behind the coffin of Lord Mountbatten in 1979.

According to Spencer’s account, he pointed out that Charles had been 30 at the time.

The Earl says the conversation then became increasingly heated. He claims Charles eventually made the remark about Diana being forgotten.

Spencer writes that he was so stunned by the alleged comment that he initially struggled to respond before telling Charles, “I can’t believe you just said that,” and ending the call.

The account is Spencer’s recollection of a private conversation nearly three decades ago, and Buckingham Palace has challenged the reliability of that recollection by pointing to the impact grief can have on memory and judgment.

Palace breaks with its usual approach

The response from Buckingham Palace came shortly after details from Spencer’s memoir were published.

A Palace spokesman 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 judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”

The wording has attracted particular attention because the Palace did not respond publicly to Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare, despite its many claims about members of the Royal Family.

Sky News royal correspondent Laura Bundock described the intervention as a remarkably strong response, noting that the Palace would normally avoid commenting on a book. She said the circumstances were different because the allegations involved Diana and came from her brother.

The Palace’s wording has also drawn comparisons with Queen Elizabeth II’s response to claims made by Harry and Meghan during their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey, when the late Queen said that “recollections may vary.”

Former royal aides question Spencer’s version

The Palace response has prompted former royal officials and commentators to weigh in on Spencer’s account.

Julian Payne, who served as King Charles’s communications secretary from 2016 to 2021, said the reaction demonstrated how strongly the allegations had affected those close to the King.

Payne recalled working with Charles during the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2017. He said Charles had been clear that Diana’s memory should be respected and that there should be no criticism or pushback against narratives surrounding her.

He also said the alleged wording did not fit his understanding of Charles at the time.

Royal commentator Jennie Bond described the situation as another painful chapter in the long-running tensions between Diana’s family and the Royal Family. She expressed concern that the dispute could be particularly difficult for William and Harry, who remain connected to both sides of the family.

Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, also questioned the interpretation of the alleged remark. She recalled meeting Diana six weeks before her death and said Diana had been adamant that she and Charles loved each other and that it mattered to her that their children understood this.

Meanwhile, former royal communications secretary Julian Payne said the Palace’s decision to respond publicly was “highly unusual” and reflected the strength of feeling surrounding the allegation.

The dispute over Diana’s funeral

Spencer’s account goes beyond the alleged phone conversation and revisits the tensions surrounding Diana’s funeral.

After Diana’s death, the decision was made for William and Harry to walk behind their mother’s coffin during the funeral procession on September 6, 1997.

Spencer says he initially opposed the idea, believing it would be too traumatic for the boys and contrary to what Diana would have wanted.

The Earl himself ultimately walked in the procession alongside William and Harry, Charles and Prince Philip as Diana’s coffin travelled through central London.

Six days after Diana’s death, Spencer delivered the emotional eulogy at Westminster Abbey. His speech became one of the most memorable moments of the funeral and cemented his role as one of Diana’s most prominent defenders.

Harry later reflected on the experience of walking behind his mother’s coffin, saying that no child should have been asked to do so.

A memoir revisiting decades of family tension

Spencer says he wrote Swan Song: Diana, My Sister to address what he considers to be untruths about his older sister and to tell her story from the perspective of her brother.

The memoir revisits Diana’s marriage to Charles, her death and the turbulent period that followed.

The controversy surrounding the book has now placed the long-running tensions between the Spencer family and the Royal Family back in the spotlight.

The memoir is due to be published worldwide on September 22 by Penguin Michael Joseph in the UK, part of Penguin Random House.

For Buckingham Palace, the decision to respond publicly marks a notable departure from its traditional reluctance to engage with claims made in books. For Spencer, the memoir represents his own account of events surrounding one of the most painful periods in his family’s history.

At the centre of the dispute remains a private conversation from 1997 — one that Spencer says happened exactly as he remembers it, and which the Palace has now implicitly challenged by pointing to the way grief can shape memory decades later.