Palace Fires Back at Earl Spencer Over Explosive Diana Memoir Claims

Buckingham Palace has broken its usual silence over royal books after Earl Spencer made a dramatic claim about King Charles and Princess Diana, triggering a rare public response from the Palace just days before his memoir is published. The dispute centres on an alleged conversation between Diana’s brother and the then Prince Charles in the tense days surrounding her 1997 funeral.

In his forthcoming book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Earl Spencer claims Charles told him, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” According to Spencer’s account, the alleged remark came during a heated argument over whether Diana’s sons, William and Harry, who were then 15 and 12, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the funeral procession.

Spencer says he had opposed the decision because he believed Diana would not have wanted her young sons exposed to such an emotionally difficult public ordeal. He recalls the conversation as a major confrontation and says he was stunned by the alleged comment, responding that he could not believe Charles had said it before ending the call.

The Palace has not accepted Spencer’s recollection. In an unusually direct statement, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the King is mindful that grief can affect a person’s reason, judgment and memory, particularly when events are being recalled many years later. The Palace’s response is significant because it normally declines to comment on claims made in books about the Royal Family.

The dispute revives memories of the deep tensions surrounding Diana’s death and funeral. Her death in a Paris car crash in August 1997 prompted an extraordinary public outpouring of grief and placed the Royal Family under intense scrutiny. The decision for William and Harry to walk behind their mother’s coffin has also remained one of the most debated aspects of the funeral. Harry has previously spoken about how difficult the experience was as a child.

For Earl Spencer, the memoir is intended to present Diana’s story from the perspective of her younger brother. He has said he wanted to record his own memories ahead of the 30th anniversary of her death next year, rather than relying on accounts he believes have become accepted over time. The book is due to be published in the UK on September 22.

The timing of the controversy is likely to draw further attention to the memoir, particularly because Spencer has rarely spoken in detail about the events surrounding Diana’s death and funeral since delivering his highly critical eulogy at Westminster Abbey in 1997.

The Palace’s intervention also highlights how sensitive Diana’s legacy remains nearly three decades after her death. With Spencer’s book set to examine Diana’s life, marriage, death and the aftermath, the latest exchange suggests that some of the most painful memories of the Royal Family’s past are once again being brought into the public spotlight.