Earl Spencer has revealed that he felt compelled to write a memoir about his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, describing it as his “duty… as an eyewitness to history.” The new memoir contains several critical observations about King Charles III, prompting a response from Buckingham Palace.
The earl stated that his aim was to document truthful accounts related to Diana’s life, adding, “I’m aware of mortality and I wanted to just put things down once and for all that were true.” He also mentioned possessing further knowledge about the King but chose not to include it as it was not relevant to the book.
Among the memoir’s most notable claims is an account of a heated exchange between the earl and King Charles concerning Diana’s funeral arrangements. Earl Spencer recounted that the King became extremely agitated, criticising Spencer’s family for their sense of duty. According to Spencer, the King then said, “We’ll forget her soon enough,” referring to Diana. Charles reportedly made these comments amid a disagreement over whether Princes William and Harry should accompany the funeral cortege.
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The earl expressed surprise at Buckingham Palace’s rebuttal to the memoir’s claims, describing their response as “a rather poor imitation of the ‘recollections may vary’ quote,” a phrase historically associated with the late Queen’s approach to sensitive allegations. He further accused the King of attempting to “gaslight” him, saying, “It was astonishingly provocative and below the belt because it was essentially trying to say I’d lied without the King being able to deny what I’d said.”
Buckingham Palace released a statement emphasising its usual policy of not commenting on books but acknowledged 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.”
In reflecting on Diana’s death, the earl remarked that while he was initially told she was “not too serious,” confirmation later came from a family member that she had passed away. He also highlighted parallels between the media’s treatment of Diana and the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, noting that the relationship between the couple and the press “echoes” what his sister experienced.
When asked about his support for the monarchy, Earl Spencer affirmed, “I do,” but clarified that his memoir focuses on events from more than three decades ago rather than on King Charles as monarch today. He described his book, ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,’ as his definitive account, stating, “This is my final word, celebration of her, and I will step off into the sunset now and not be available for comment.”
The earl became emotional when speaking about his sister, concluding, “I miss her every day. That’s the thing with sibling loss, you never get over it.”