Buckingham Palace has issued an unusually forceful public denial after Charles Spencer alleged in an upcoming memoir that then-Prince Charles claimed Princess Diana would soon be forgotten following her 1997 death, warning that fraternal grief can distort memory decades after such a loss.
The Phone Call and the Bombshell Claim
The controversy centers on a heated telephone exchange between Charles Spencer and the then-Prince of Wales in the chaotic days following Princess Diana’s death in a Paris car crash at age 36. In his upcoming memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
, Spencer recounts an argument over whether Princes William and Harry—then aged 15 and 12—should walk behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral procession, according to excerpts published by the Daily Mail.
Spencer writes that he told Charles his sister would not want her young sons to endure such an ordeal. According to the book, the comment provoked a severe reaction.
Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped. I assumed the pause signaled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he 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!’
Earl Charles Spencer, via HuffPost
Spencer writes that he sat stunned for a few seconds before responding I can’t believe you just said that
and hanging up, as reported by HuffPost.
Buckingham Palace Counters With a Rare Public Denial
Rather than maintaining its usual silence on royal memoirs, Buckingham Palace responded with an uncommon and direct statement addressing the explosive allegations. While noting that the royal household does not typically comment on books, the official statement challenged the reliability of memories forged during profound trauma.
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 recognise, even many years after such a loss.
Buckingham Palace spokesperson, via NBC News
Echoes of Past Royal Controversies and Familiar Phrasing
Royal analysts immediately noted striking parallels between the palace’s chosen language and past controversies. The phrasing used to address Spencer’s memoir closely mirrors the response issued by Queen Elizabeth II in 2021 following allegations of racism made by Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, when the late monarch famously noted that recollections may vary
.
Speaking on GB News, royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams observed that the decision to issue a public rebuttal signals intense anger within the royal household, describing the statement as an extraordinary move that reflects how seriously the institution views claims directed at the King’s character.
The controversy also arrives amid an already tense backdrop for the royal family. Variety reported that four advance copies of Spencer’s book were stolen from a delivery truck parked in a lay-by in the Netherlands while traveling between a printing plant and a warehouse, touching off an investigation by Dutch authorities that publishing insiders called extremely suspicious.
Public Fallout and the Burden of History
The new memoir, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
, is scheduled for publication next week and represents the most personal of the ten books Spencer has written over the past three decades. India McTaggart, a royal correspondent at The Telegraph, noted that the palace may have attempted to get ahead of a wave of expected allegations, telling NBC News that the memoir contains a number of incendiary claims.
The timing creates an awkward overlap of public appearances. While King Charles, Prince William, and Kate Middleton continue with scheduled engagements in Britain, Prince Harry is also carrying out public appearances in the country, bringing the estranged family members into proximity as the new headlines unfold.
