Prince Harry Knew About Charles Spencer’s Explosive Diana Claims Before Palace Row Erupted
Prince Harry was said to have been aware of the explosive claims in his uncle Charles Spencer’s new Princess Diana memoir before they became public, suggesting the revelations now causing fresh controversy for King Charles did not catch the Duke by surprise.
Harry was only 12 when Diana died following a car crash in Paris in August 1997, placing him and Prince William at the centre of extraordinary decisions while the young brothers were grieving their mother.
Now, nearly three decades later, Spencer’s forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is revisiting those painful days and offering his account of previously private disagreements surrounding Diana’s funeral and her two sons.
The book has already attracted major attention, particularly because Buckingham Palace reportedly did not receive an advance copy before extracts began emerging and reigniting discussion surrounding Diana’s difficult relationship with the then-Prince Charles.
Harry, however, reportedly had advance knowledge of what his uncle intended to reveal. According to Page Six, the Duke was already familiar with the memoir’s contents before its most controversial claims reached the public.
“Harry knew what was in the book – it didn’t come as a shock,” an insider told the publication, indicating that the Duke had apparently been prepared for Spencer’s account of the family’s painful history.
The report also claims Harry and Spencer discussed the memoir when the Sussexes were in Britain in July, although neither man has publicly revealed what was said during their alleged conversation.
Spencer has maintained contact with both Harry and William despite the brothers’ continuing estrangement and has long portrayed himself as fiercely protective of his nephews following the death of his sister.
That position was famously demonstrated during Diana’s funeral, when Spencer pledged that her “blood family” would help continue the “imaginative and loving” way in which Diana had been raising William and Harry.
His memoir now returns to the funeral and describes an alleged confrontation with Charles over whether William, then 15, and Harry, 12, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the procession.
Spencer claims the then-Prince Charles “continued his stream of anger” during their discussion before allegedly making an even more startling remark about how Diana would be remembered following her death.
“‘Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough!’” Spencer claims Charles told him. The allegation is based on the Earl’s recollection of a private conversation from almost three decades ago and has not been independently verified.
Buckingham Palace has taken the unusual step of responding, suggesting that intense grief can “cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory,” effectively challenging Spencer’s recollection while providing no detailed alternative account of the conversation.
Harry has neither publicly backed his uncle’s version nor personally confirmed the report that he knew what was coming. But if the insider’s account is accurate, he entered the latest Palace-Spencer controversy with advance knowledge of the allegations now reopening one of the most traumatic periods of his childhood.
