LONDON — Buckingham Palace has issued a rare and unusually forceful denial after the late Princess Diana’s brother claimed that the then-Prince Charles said his first wife would soon be forgotten in the days after her death.
In a soon-to-be-published memoir, Charles Spencer recounts the emotional days in the aftermath of Diana’s 1997 death in a Paris car crash at age 36.
An excerpt published Wednesday alleges a heated exchange with Charles, now the British king, over whether Princes William and Harry — then 15 and 12 — should walk behind their mother’s coffin in the funeral procession.
Spencer says he expressed that Diana would not want them to endure such an ordeal and claims that was met with a “stream of anger” from Charles. He writes that Charles “unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough.’”
Buckingham Palace replied with a forceful statement denying the claims and suggesting that grief for his older sister may have affected Spencer’s memory.
“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 color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,” said the statement, released Wednesday.
Diana’s 1997 funeral procession is etched into modern memory.
Her brother and two young sons were among those who walked solemnly behind her coffin as it passed through central London.
Further excerpts published Thursday continued to provide difficult reading for the palace, reflecting on the breakdown of Diana and Charles’ marriage.
Spencer writes that his sister “told me that things became very difficult indeed in the marriage early on, and I am sure that both spouses despaired of the other at times.”
“I am not hypocritical enough to judge or criticise anyone else’s marital record. I am merely recording how my sister felt and am not assessing whether she was right or not,” he adds.
Spencer also writes about Diana’s struggle with an eating disorder, which she spoke about during her lifetime, as well as her wider mental state, criticizing her transfer from a long-serving family doctor to a royal physician.
“It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all. Her love for her sons stopped her from going further,” he writes.
Meanwhile, Spencer says, when he spoke to Charles by phone in the hours after Diana’s death, “he sounded giddily elated — like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.”
He wrote: “Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not. It can be hard to feel too much sympathy for an ex-spouse, or those who care for them profoundly, after bitter divorce.”
The palace declined to comment further Thursday.
India McTaggart, a royal correspondent at The Telegraph newspaper, told NBC News about Wednesday’s statement: “Earl Spencer’s book is expected to contain a number of incendiary claims, and perhaps this was the palace trying to get on the front foot and get ahead of some of the allegations we expect to see.”
The royal family mostly avoided commenting in 2023, when Prince Harry published his autobiography, “Spare,” which also generated global headlines with claims of bitter family feuds.
Queen Elizabeth II famously issued a brief but forceful statement in 2021 after Harry and his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, alleged racism in the family. “Recollections may vary,” the late queen said.
McTaggart said that “the palace will certainly be bracing for more headlines” as a result of the new memoir.
“At the same time, we’ll see Harry carrying out public engagements this week, while the king and the prince and princess of Wales continue with theirs. It will be interesting to see how all of that is covered now that they’re all in Britain at the same time.”
Diana was one of the most photographed women in the world after she married Charles in 1981. Their high-profile marriage ended in 1996, and she died a year later after being chased by paparazzi with her partner, Dodi Fayed. Her death in a Paris tunnel brought the world to a standstill.
At the time of her funeral, the royal family received criticism from the public and the media for appearing to be slow to react to the outpouring of love and grief from the public for a woman posthumously dubbed the “people’s princess.”
Spencer’s book, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” is due to be published Tuesday. Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper is publishing excerpts in advance.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in emotional distress, call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7 to reach the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. For additional resources, visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources.
The National Alliance for Eating Disorders Helpline provides support, resources and information about treatment options at 1-866-662-1235, Monday through Friday. You can also text “ALLIANCE” to 741741 if you are experiencing a crisis to be contacted by a trained volunteer. More information about eating disorders, including other free and low-cost support options, can be found on the National Eating Disorder Association’s website.
