Buckingham Palace issued a rare denial after Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, alleged in a forthcoming memoir that the then-Prince Charles told him Diana would soon be forgotten in the days following her 1997 death in Paris. The palace suggested that fraternal grief had clouded Spencer’s memory.
Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of addressing claims made in an upcoming book about the royal family according to reporting from NBC News. The dispute centers on excerpts from Spencer’s forthcoming memoir titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which details the life and death of the late princess from her brother’s perspective. ABC News has reached out to Spencer’s publisher, Penguin Random House, for comment.
Disputed Funeral Phone Call and Palace Denial
Spencer, an author and historian who delivered the eulogy at his sister’s funeral, recounts a heated telephone exchange with Charles in the immediate aftermath of Diana’s fatal car crash on August 31, 1997. The crash occurred in a Paris tunnel while Diana, who was 36, was being chased by paparazzi alongside her partner Dodi Fayed. Diana was one of the most photographed women in the world after marrying Charles in 1981, and her death in a Paris tunnel brought the world to a standstill. Spencer writes that a disagreement arose over whether Princes William and Harry—then 15 and 12 years old—should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the funeral procession through central London, an event etched into modern memory.
When Spencer argued that the young princes should not endure such an ordeal, he claims Charles reacted with anger. Spencer writes that Charles unleashed pent-up contempt for Diana and frustration over the global reaction to her passing, telling him down the phone, rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough,
according to the excerpt published by The Daily Mail.
In response to the publication of these excerpts, Buckingham Palace released a statement addressing the allegations directly as reported by NBC News and ABC News.
“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 color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,”
Buckingham Palace spokesperson, via NBC News and ABC News
Reflections on Marriage Breakdown and Past Struggles
Additional excerpts published following the initial preview provided further insight into the tumultuous marriage between Charles and Diana, which ended in 1996 after the couple married in 1981. Spencer wrote that his sister described early difficulties in the union, noting that both spouses despaired of the other at times, though he added that he was not hypocritical enough to judge or criticize anyone else’s marital record.
Spencer’s memoir also addresses Diana’s private struggles, including her eating disorder and mental health history, criticizing her transfer from a long-serving family doctor to a royal physician. He writes that Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all, but her love for her sons stopped her from going further.
Furthermore, Spencer describes his impression of Charles during their phone call in the hours following the crash, noting that the prince sounded giddily elated.
“he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.”
Charles Spencer, via NBC News
Looking back, Spencer wrote that he suspects the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how the event might free him to marry the woman he loved rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not. India McTaggart, a royal correspondent at The Telegraph newspaper, told NBC News that Earl Spencer’s book was expected to contain a number of incendiary claims, and perhaps the palace was trying to get on the front foot and get ahead of some of the expected allegations.
Precedent for Royal Responses
The palace’s direct rebuttal marks a departure from its typical strategy of maintaining public silence regarding books and reports concerning the royal family. Buckingham Palace did not issue statements in response to Prince Harry’s 2023 memoir, Spare, despite that book containing numerous allegations regarding Charles and other family members and garnering global headlines with claims of bitter family feuds.
The palace’s approach echoes a brief statement issued by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2021 after Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, made allegations of racism, when the queen noted that recollections may vary. McTaggart noted that the palace would certainly be bracing for more headlines as a result of the new memoir while members of the royal family continue with their public engagements.
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