Charles Spencer Responds to King Charles as He Stands By Diana Funeral Claim
Charles Spencer has stood by his account of a private conversation with King Charles following Princess Diana’s funeral saying he is telling the truth after Buckingham Palace raised questions about his recollection.
In his first major interview since the Palace responded to claims from his forthcoming memoir, Diana’s brother maintained that the then-Prince Charles made a striking remark during a discussion about Diana’s funeral.
Spencer claims Charles told him “we’ll forget her soon enough” as they disagreed over whether the young Prince William and Prince Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the 1997 funeral procession.
Speaking to the BBC at his Althorp estate, Spencer rejected suggestions that he might have incorrectly remembered the conversation after almost three decades, saying the alleged words remain clear in his memory.
“I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said,” Spencer said as he addressed the questions raised by Buckingham Palace following publication of the controversial extract.
Spencer also questioned how the King may have felt about the memoir’s claims. “Well, is he furious? Is he furious or is he embarrassed?” he asked while discussing the Palace response.
Buckingham Palace had departed from its usual approach of not commenting on books by issuing a statement suggesting intense grief could influence how events and conversations from traumatic periods are remembered.
The Palace said the King was “mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Spencer, however, told the BBC that he had only ever spoken with the then-Prince Charles twice by telephone, arguing that the unusual nature of the conversation made him particularly attentive to what was being said.
“I was hyper alert to what he was saying and those are precisely the words that he said,” Spencer maintained, adding: “I promise that to you now. Genuinely, that is what he said.”
When asked whether he had evidence supporting his version, Spencer said he had shared details of the alleged remark with family members and friends at the time because he considered it “so monstrous.”
The Earl also suggested the Palace statement stopped short of directly denying his allegation. “They’ve sort of smudged that one, haven’t they?” Spencer said while discussing its suggestion that memories can be affected by grief.
Asked which Charles the public should believe, Diana’s brother responded simply: “I’m telling the truth.” His comments reinforce his account, although the alleged private conversation remains disputed and has not been independently verified.
King Charles’ office has not responded to Spencer’s latest remarks. With Swan Song: Diana, My Sister bringing further claims into public view, Spencer’s decision to stand by his recollection means the disagreement over what was said following Diana’s death is likely to remain under close attention.
