Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, has strongly defended his account of a private phone call with King Charles after Diana’s death. The claim appears in his upcoming book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. Spencer says the then-Prince of Wales told him, “we’ll forget her soon enough.”
The alleged remark came during an argument over whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin.
Charles Spencer insists he’s ‘telling the truth’ about his alleged conversation with King Charles after Princess Diana’s death
Following the claim, Buckingham Palace issued a rare response, saying the King was “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”. However, Spencer has now pushed back, insisting that he remembers the conversation clearly.
“I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said,” Spencer told the BBC in his first interview since the Palace statement. He also questioned the reaction from the Palace, asking, “Well, is he furious? Is he furious or is he embarrassed?”
Moreover, Spencer said he had only spoken with Charles twice by phone in his life. Hence, it made him especially attentive during the conversation. “I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life,” he said. “I was hyper alert to what he was saying and those are precisely the words that he said and I promise that to you now.”
He said he told family and friends about the exchange because it was “so monstrous.” Asked which account was true, Spencer replied, “I’m telling the truth.” He recalled Charles “went ballistic” over his objection to William and Harry walking in Diana’s funeral procession before allegedly saying, “we’ll forget her soon enough.” Spencer said he was stunned and responded, “I cannot believe you just said that. And I hung up on him.”
Diana died in a car crash in Paris on 31 August 1997, aged 36. Prince Harry later said walking behind her coffin was something no child “should be asked to do.”