King Charles Surprising ‘Lucky’ Remark to Charles Spencer at Family Funeral Resurfaces
King Charles allegedly told Charles Spencer he was “so lucky” to inherit his family fortune at a young age during the funeral of Spencer’s father according to a surprising recollection shared by Princess Diana’s brother.
Spencer has been revisiting private encounters involving the Royal Family ahead of his memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, with several of his recollections already drawing considerable attention.
One account concerns the 1992 death of his father, John Spencer, the eighth Earl Spencer, who died aged 68 and was succeeded by his then-27-year-old son.
Spencer recalled having what he described as a “very peculiar conversation” with the then-Prince Charles around the time of his father’s funeral at a church in Northamptonshire, where Diana was also present.
The Earl said he had been deeply emotional after seeing his father’s coffin carried into the church by six of his longest-serving male members of staff.
“I shared that I had found it so moving to see my father’s coffin being borne into the church by his six longest-serving male members of staff that I had started to cry,” Spencer wrote.
According to his account, Charles responded in a way that immediately surprised him. “Prince Charles, as he was then, said to me, ‘You’re so lucky,’” Spencer recalled.
Confused by the remark during such a sombre occasion, Spencer said he replied: “I’m so sorry, sir.” Charles then allegedly explained what he meant by referring directly to Spencer’s inheritance.
“And he said, ‘You are so lucky to have inherited so young’,” Spencer claimed, describing a comment that appeared particularly striking given the circumstances surrounding their conversation.
The recollection takes on an interesting dimension because Charles himself spent much of his adult life waiting to inherit the position for which he had been prepared from childhood.
He eventually became King in 2022 at the age of 73 following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, whose exceptionally long reign meant Charles spent decades as heir to the throne.
Spencer’s account does not establish precisely what Charles intended by the remark beyond the words attributed to him, and Buckingham Palace has not issued a specific response to this latest recollection.
The Palace did, however, respond unusually to an earlier claim from Spencer involving the period after Diana’s death, suggesting that “fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory.”
As further excerpts from Spencer’s memoir emerge, the alleged 1992 exchange provides another glimpse into how Diana’s brother remembers his private interactions with Charles. Whether the Palace responds to this particular account remains to be seen.
