Earl Spencer has indicated that his nephews, Prince William and Prince Harry, were already aware of the explosive claims in his forthcoming memoir about their mother, Princess Diana. In an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, he said: 'I don't like to talk about what I've been speaking about to William and Harry, but this will not be a surprise to them.' He added: 'I will tell you that these words will not be a surprise to them.'
King Charles's Alleged 'Ballistic' Reaction
In the memoir, Earl Spencer recounts a phone call days after Diana's 1997 death, during which the then Prince Charles allegedly went 'ballistic' after Spencer suggested that Diana would not have wanted her young sons to walk behind her coffin. Spencer told Kuenssberg: '[Prince Charles] said, "I gather you don't think William and Harry should walk behind Diana's coffin." And I said, "Of course not, sir. She wouldn't want it." And then he said, "Well, I walked behind Lord Mountbatten's coffin," and I said, "Yes, but you were 30, and he wasn't your mother." And then to me, he went ballistic would be the right term, and started really going for my family as a whole about their sense of duty not being adequate enough, and ranted for a while.'
Spencer said the call ended with Charles allegedly telling him: 'We'll forget her soon enough.' He also claimed that Charles sounded 'giddy' during the conversation, noting: 'I'd had a lot of calls that day from people who cared, who were stunned… and I just felt there was a lightness in his tone about Diana's death that really jarred with me.'
Earl Spencer's Rebuttal to Buckingham Palace
The revelations come in response to a statement from Buckingham Palace, which said that 'the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory'. Spencer insisted: 'I'm telling the truth.' When Kuenssberg asked whether the King was 'misleading people, even lying', Spencer replied: 'All I can tell you is what was said and what I heard and what shocked me. What else would have made me hang up on the king that day, it was something as outrageous as that slur against Diana.'
In the emotional interview, Spencer also spoke about his relationship with his nephews, saying: 'I'm on my deceased sister's sons' side, both of them. And if either of them wanted anything then I'd be equally there for them.' He added: 'I never get involved in one camp or the other, except as a benign figure I hope.'
Reflections on the Princes' Rift and Diana's Final Days
Spencer hinted at 'a lot of reasons on both sides' for the ongoing rift between William and Harry, expressing hope that it would one day be resolved: 'I hope one day it's resolved, but I don't know all – I certainly don't know what's been done in the finer detail and so I would feel intrusive if I got more involved than to say of course a mother would want her two sons to be happy together and love each other.'
He also recounted the night of Diana's death, describing how his sister Lady Jane Fellowes called to say Diana had been in a crash but 'it's not too serious'. As he sought updates, the news worsened: 'And then my sister Jane said, "I'm afraid she's died." It started… as a little prang, and then it became a broken leg, perhaps a head injury, and then death.'
Spencer also revealed that Diana had told him the reason for her divorce was that 'my husband is in love with his valet'. He recalled telling her: 'I do worry that the public will really be, in a way, angry with you for killing the fairy tale that they've all subscribed to', which were her words to him.
When asked if some family secrets were better left unsaid, Spencer replied: 'They certainly are, and they have been left unsaid.' But he indicated that his memoir would be his final word on the matter, saying: 'Nope, that's it. That's me done.'
