King Charles’s reaction to Princess Diana’s death has returned to the spotlight nearly 30 years later. For years, royal writers claimed he broke down when he heard the news.
Now, Diana’s brother has shared a very different version of what happened, raising fresh questions about Charles’s true feelings at the time.
Charles Spencer Shares A Very Different Story
Princess Diana died at the age of 36 following a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997. Paparazzi had been chasing the car carrying Diana and her companion, Dodi Fayed. Fayed and driver Henri Paul also died in the crash.
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Diana’s younger brother, Charles Spencer, has now written about that painful night in his September 2026 memoir, ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister‘. Spencer claims the then-Prince Charles sounded “giddily elated” and “like a lottery winner” when they spoke after Diana’s death. He wondered if Charles felt that Diana’s death had left him free to be with Camilla Parker Bowles.
Tensions grew further as the two men discussed Diana’s funeral. Spencer did not want Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, to walk behind their mother’s coffin. During their argument, he claims Charles angrily told him, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough!”. Spencer says his funeral promise that Diana would “never be extinguished from our minds” was a direct reply to that alleged remark.
Earlier Reports Claimed Charles Was Devastated
Buckingham Palace has denied Spencer’s version of events. In a rare statement, the Palace said the King understands 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.” However, Spencer has continued to stand by his account.
Royal author Christopher Andersen previously painted a very different picture of Charles that night. “When he was first told over the phone that Diana had died, Charles, according to an eyewitness, ‘howled like a wounded animal,’” Andersen said. Charles then traveled from Balmoral Castle in Scotland to Paris to bring Diana’s body back to England.
The pain reportedly became even more intense when Charles saw Diana’s body. Andersen said Charles nearly fainted, while a nurse described him moving backward as if he had been “struck by an unseen force.” “Charles was shattered,” Andersen added. Four months later, Charles also wrote about the “unbearable emptiness” he felt in a private letter that later sold at auction for $2,000.
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Diana And Charles Had Grown Close Again
Charles’s reaction may have been linked to the better relationship he and Diana had built before her death. “In the months before Diana’s death, she and Charles decided to put their bitterness behind them and become, in her words, ‘very best friends,’” Andersen explained. One of Diana’s close friends also claimed that “her love for Charles never really died.”
The former couple had even started sending affectionate notes to each other. Shortly before Diana died, Charles wrote her a note that began “My dearest Diana” and ended with “Lots of love, Charles.” Tragically, she never received it. After her death, Charles reportedly fought Queen Elizabeth II to make sure Diana received the funeral he believed she deserved. Around 2,000 people attended the service, while more than two billion watched worldwide.
William and Harry received no grief counseling and had to walk behind their mother’s coffin around a million mourners. Earl Spencer later described the experience as “a tunnel of grief.” Meanwhile, Camilla received death threats and went into hiding. Charles eventually married her in 2005, eight years after Diana’s death. They were crowned King and Queen in May 2023, but Andersen believes Diana’s memory never truly left Charles.
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