In extracts from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, published by the Daily Mail on Thursday, Spencer says Charles sounded “like a lottery winner” when he spoke to him after Diana’s death nearly three decades ago.
In an earlier extract, Spencer also claims that Charles told him several days after Diana’s death: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
Buckingham Palace issued an unusually strong response to the allegations, saying that grief could affect a person’s memories and judgement.
“His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss,” a palace spokesperson said.
The palace added that it would not normally comment on books.
Spencer’s book is due to be published next week and is currently being serialised by the Daily Mail.
In the latest extracts, Spencer claims that some people within the Palace were “relieved — indeed, pleased” that Diana had died.
He also alleges that Charles became angry when Spencer objected to William and Harry, who were then 15 and 12 respectively, walking behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral.
According to Spencer, Charles expressed what he described as “pent-up contempt for Diana” during a phone call.
Julian Payne, who served as Charles’s communications secretary in 2017, said he found it difficult to believe the former prince had used the language described by Spencer.
“It’s just not language that I recognise,” Payne told the BBC.
Diana died aged 36 in Paris in August 1997 when the car carrying her crashed while attempting to escape paparazzi photographers.
Her death triggered an enormous public outpouring of grief in Britain and renewed criticism of the royal family’s response to her death.
William and Harry have both spoken publicly about the emotional difficulty of walking behind their mother’s coffin.
‘Recollections may vary’
Buckingham Palace’s decision to respond so quickly to Spencer’s claims has attracted considerable attention in the British media.
Sunday Times royal editor Roya Nikkhah told the BBC that the Palace had little choice but to respond because of the seriousness of the allegations and the continuing publication of extracts from the book.
The Palace’s wording has also been compared with a statement made by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2021 after Harry and Meghan made allegations about racism within the royal family.
At the time, the Queen said that “some recollections may vary”.
Charles and Diana were married in 1981 and divorced in 1996 after a highly publicised and troubled relationship that remained a major focus of the British press.
Diana’s famous “revenge dress”, worn in 1994 after Charles publicly acknowledged his adultery, is due to be auctioned in New York in December.
SEO keywords: Princess Diana, King Charles III, Charles Spencer, Diana death, Swan Song Diana My Sister, Buckingham Palace, Prince William, Prince Harry, British royal family, Diana revenge dress
