Earl Spencer Claims Charles Said Diana Would Be ‘Forgotten Soon Enough’

Earl Spencer has alleged that King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, remarked that the public would forget Princess Diana “soon enough” in the days following her death. The claim appears in an excerpt from his upcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, published by the Daily Mail.

Spencer states that the late monarch unleashed a “stream of anger” during a phone call after he objected to the decision for Princes William and Harry, aged 15 and 12 at the time, to walk in their mother’s funeral procession. Spencer asserts that a senior Palace aide had informed him the young princes would walk alongside Diana’s coffin.

In the book extract, Spencer writes that Charles conveyed what he interpreted as “pent-up contempt” for Diana and dismay at the global reaction to her death. “Rest assured,” he quotes Charles as hissing, “we’ll forget her soon enough.”

Buckingham Palace has strongly denied the allegation. A spokesperson noted that while the Palace does not comment on books as a matter of principle, King Charles is aware that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”

The full memoir, set for release next week, is expected to offer a critical perspective on the Royal Family. The BBC has not reviewed the complete text. The controversy resurfaces tensions surrounding Diana’s 1997 death, which occurred amid public criticism that the monarchy appeared out of touch with national grief. Prince Harry has previously described walking behind his mother’s coffin as an experience no child should endure, though he told the BBC in 2017 that he was ultimately glad to have participated.

Separately, it was revealed earlier on Wednesday that four copies of the unreleased Dutch-language edition of Spencer’s book were stolen from a delivery truck in the Netherlands while it was en route from the printers to a warehouse.