Earl Spencer says Charles told him Diana would be forgotten 'soon enough'

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, says the then Prince Charles told him his sister Princess Diana would be forgotten "soon enough" after her death.

Spencer, Diana's brother and the former brother-in-law of the now King, makes the claim in his memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. The book is listed for pre-order by the Althorp Estate and is due to be published on a Tuesday in the UK, ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana's death in Paris.

In the book, Spencer says he clashed with Charles, then Prince of Wales, in the days before Diana's funeral and that he objected to the participation of his nephews in the lead-up to the service, according to serialisation reported by The Times. He also claims Charles sounded "giddily elated" in a phone call after Diana's death, as reported by the BBC's live coverage. Spencer stood in Westminster Abbey in September 1997 to deliver the eulogy at his sister's funeral.

Buckingham Palace has responded. King Charles issued a rare response to the book's claim about Diana, as reported by People. An Associated Press report said the Palace had hit back at claims in the book by Diana's brother.

A separate passage discussed by Spencer concerns Charles as a boy and his father, Prince Philip. Spencer writes that Charles's protruding ears led to teasing at school and mockery in the media. He writes that Philip stopped further consideration of a medical procedure to pin the boy's ears back.

Spencer then recounts a stranger tale. He writes that Philip had one of Queen Elizabeth II's corgis undergo an ear operation, to serve as a lasting reminder of a plan he thought ridiculous for softness and vanity. Spencer writes that he does not know if the tales about Philip, Charles's ears and the corgi were true, but that Diana believed them, according to Hello! Magazine. He says they left her feeling desperately sad for Charles and fiercely protective of him.

Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997. She was 36.

Althorp, the Spencer family seat in Northamptonshire, has been home to the family for more than 500 years. The house is currently closed and plans to welcome visitors in 2027. All books bought through Althorp's website include a personalised dedication by Spencer.