What Earl Spencer Alleges About Charles, Diana and the Funeral
Earl Spencer claims King Charles sounded "giddily elated – like a lottery winner" in a telephone call immediately after Diana's death. The allegation appears in published extracts from his memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. The Guardian
Spencer says he wrote the memoir to correct "untruths" told about his elder sister Diana. The book is scheduled for publication on September 22 with Penguin Random House. Bertelsmann
The extracts were serialised, published in daily parts, by the Daily Mail. In them, Spencer claims Buckingham Palace wanted William, Harry and himself to walk behind Diana's coffin because the then-Prince Charles was "adamant" he would walk. Palace officials, Spencer says, feared the public might shout abuse at Charles. The Palace has not adopted that account as its own.
Spencer also alleges that during a heated phone call about funeral arrangements, Charles said, "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough." Spencer presents the words as a direct quotation from Charles.
In the same extracts, Spencer suggests some people inside Buckingham Palace were "relieved – indeed pleased" at Diana's death in a Paris car crash. Buckingham Palace issued a statement in response: "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 memoir revisits the breakdown of Diana's engagement. Spencer writes that Diana tried to break off the engagement after finding a bracelet Charles had bought for Camilla. He also writes that Diana's waist shrank from 29in to 23.5in between the engagement and the wedding.
Charles Spencer is Princess Diana's brother and the 9th Earl Spencer, a hereditary title in the British aristocracy. Diana's father was determined to walk her down the aisle at her wedding. Daily Mail The late Queen did not applaud Earl Spencer's eulogy, the funeral speech, for Diana. Daily Mail In separate earlier accounts, Spencer alleged that a matron who molested him at boarding school later became an NHS nurse, a nurse in Britain's public health system, looking after patients.
Prince Harry attended the inaugural Invictus Spirit awards in London on Thursday evening. It was his first public appearance since returning to the UK from the US. The appearance coincided with publication of the extracts.
The broader context here is a monarchy that manages memory through procedure. Funeral processions, balcony appearances and authorised statements act as tools for continuity, much like a public archive that decides what stays on display. Memoirs from inside the family circle test that control. They introduce competing recollections that documents alone cannot settle.
Looking at what this could mean for the institution, the immediate question is containment. Palace officials traditionally limit direct rebuttal to brief statements of principle. That approach can shorten a news cycle. It also leaves specific allegations unanswered in the public record. Spencer's account will now sit alongside other family memoirs as a source for historians and journalists, and its influence will rest on whether it changes the accepted story of Diana's final years and the handling of her funeral.
