Princess Diana’s death in August 1997 remains one of the most painful chapters in royal history, but a new claim from her brother has brought an explosive private conversation back into the spotlight.
Charles Spencer says the now-King Charles made a startling remark about Diana being forgotten shortly after her death, prompting Buckingham Palace to issue a rare response nearly three decades later.
King Charles Responds To Charles Spencer’s Diana Claim
Charles Spencer makes the allegation in his upcoming book, ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister’. He recalls a heated phone conversation with the then-Prince Charles in the days after Diana died at 36 following a car crash in Paris. Spencer claims Charles suggested that the public would eventually “forget” the late Princess of Wales.
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Buckingham Palace responded to the account on Wednesday, September 16. “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,” the Palace said.
Spencer says the tense call happened shortly before Diana’s funeral as the two men discussed whether Prince William and Prince Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin. William was 15 at the time, while Harry was only 12. “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting,” Spencer wrote in the chapter.
The King Recalls The Heated Phone Call
Spencer claims the conversation became even more heated after Charles briefly stopped speaking. “Then [Charles] stopped. I assumed the pause signaled an effort to bring himself under control. But then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death,” Spencer wrote in the memoir.
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According to Spencer, Charles then made the remark that left him stunned. “‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’” Spencer wrote of the former Prince of Wales. Spencer says he needed a moment to process the comment before replying: “I can’t believe you just said that.”
William and Harry ultimately joined the funeral procession and walked behind Diana’s coffin. The image of the two young princes following their mother through the streets became one of the most unforgettable moments surrounding Diana’s funeral, while Spencer has repeatedly spoken about how uncomfortable he felt about Harry taking part at such a young age.
Spencer opened up about those concerns in 2017, explaining that he had tried to prevent the young prince from having to make the walk. “I was just so worried — what a trauma for a little chap to walk behind his mum’s body,” he said. “It’s just awful. And, actually, I tried to stop that happening, to be honest.”
“She proved in the last year that she needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic“. That’s what Spencer said during the service. Nearly 30 years later, his new memoir is reopening some of the most difficult conversations surrounding Diana’s final days and the royal family’s response to her death.
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