Earl Spencer has insisted he is 'telling the truth' after fresh claims against King Charles emerged from his memoir about his late sister, Princess Diana. In the book, the earl quotes Charles, then the Prince of Wales, as saying of his ex-wife, 'we'll forget her soon enough'. The earl has now called the monarch's remarks 'monstrous'.
Buckingham Palace responded with a statement remarking that 'the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason'. In a new interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Earl Spencer said: 'I told friends and family straight away, close friends and family, about what had been said, because it was so monstrous.'
Allegations over funeral arrangements
The comments were allegedly made by the King amid a discussion over whether Prince William and Prince Harry should follow Diana's procession. In his memories of the funeral documented in his book, Earl Spencer also said Charles had shown a 'lack of obvious care' for his younger son following Diana's death.
'My chief memory of that train journey is of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for Harry, as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning', the earl said, recounting his journey from London to Althorp in west Northamptonshire for Diana's final rites.
He added that the King had gone 'nuts' over Diana's funeral arrangements, claiming Charles accused his family of having 'no bloody sense of duty' when he suggested the former royal would not have wanted her sons to follow her coffin.
Harry's ordeal and the late Queen's reaction
Recounting giving his then 12-year-old nephew Harry an 'encouraging hug' on the day of the funeral, the earl wrote: 'I could not get over how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked.'
'Too small to be doing this, I thought, and wondered how on earth this heartbroken child could bear the ordeal of that moment, or how he could possibly be expected to deal with the agony that the day ahead would insist upon.'
Harry himself said in 2017 he was required at the funeral to do what no child 'should be asked to do that under any circumstances'. But in another interview the same year, the Duke of Sussex said he was 'glad to be part of' Diana's procession.
Earl Spencer also accused the late Queen Elizabeth II of asking 'tetchily' 'What is she up to now?', after learning Diana had been involved in a car accident. 'This, before the seriousness of it all became clear', the earl wrote. However he said the late Queen had made a 'very kind' offer to restore his sister's Royal Highness title, despite him refusing the gesture.
