Buckingham Palace Responds to Charles Spencer Claim About King Charles and Diana

Buckingham Palace has publicly responded to an allegation by Charles Spencer that King Charles III made a dismissive remark about Diana, Princess of Wales, in the days after her death in 1997.

The allegation appears in Spencer's forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, scheduled for release on September 22. Spencer, Diana's younger brother, writes that he clashed with the then-Prince Charles over whether Prince William and Prince Harry should walk in their mother's funeral procession in London. William and Harry were then 15 and 12.

According to excerpts of the book, Spencer renders the alleged remark as, "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough" Tribune. He writes that he answered that he could not believe what he had heard. The account was described in advance coverage of the memoir Town & Country.

Buckingham Palace does not as a rule comment on books. In this case, a spokesperson issued an on-the-record statement: "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."

The statement was reported on September 16, as excerpts circulated ahead of publication. The palace did not address the funeral planning details beyond that response.

Spencer has said his aim was to tell the story of his sister from a brother's perspective, as he tried to do in his address at her funeral in Westminster Abbey in 1997. He said he was persuaded to set down his memories ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana's death in a car crash in Paris Reuters. The anniversary falls in August 2027.

The book's run-up to publication has been uneven. A copy of the memoir was stolen before its release date, in a theft first reported by the Daily Mail People.

Spencer has spoken often about maintaining his sister's resting place at Althorp, the Spencer family estate in Northamptonshire in central England where Diana is buried. He has said he visits the grave pretty much every day.

What makes this stand out is the rarity of the response. The palace seldom answers claims in memoirs in its own name, preferring silence. For readers in the United States, where Diana remains widely remembered and where her younger son, Prince Harry, now lives in California, the exchange revisits a moment many Americans watched live on television: two boys walking behind their mother's coffin.