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Prince Harry was 'aware' of Earl Spencer's new Diana memoir - but he has not read it, a source close to the Duke of Sussex has said.
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source → see → Sussex
War has broken out between the King and Princess Diana's brother after he claimed Charles told him she would be quickly 'forgotten' in the days after her death in 1997.
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she → break → 1997
The Daily Mail understands Harry was given advance warning about the bombshell book, the first extract of which will be published on the Daily Mail website and app at 5pm today.
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extract → understand → today
But Harry has not seen a copy in advance, a source close to him said.
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source → see → him
The Duke of Sussex met Charles Spencer when he stayed at Althorp in July.
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he → meet → July
Harry also made an emotional pilgrimage to the grave of Diana, Princess of Wales, with Meghan, Archie and Lilibet on the Northamptonshire estate where she grew up.
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she → make → estate
Meghan shared an image of their poignant walk to her final resting place, during which the children carried bouquets of flowers, on Instagram.
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children → share → Instagram
The King today went to war with Earl Spencer over his explosive claim that the then Prince of Wales told him, 'Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough,' in a heated phone call just days after Diana died.
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Diana → go → call
Royal aides acidly suggested that grief can 'cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory', while experts claimed the monarch is apoplectic with fury over the allegation.
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monarch → suggest → allegation
The Daily Mail's sensational revelations are splitting society with rival camps backing either side.
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camps → split → side
Last night one senior establishment figure - a household name - told friends Earl Spencer 'should be horse-whipped across town'.
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Spencer → tell → town
Last night Buckingham Palace took the highly unusual step of issuing a withering put-down to the incendiary claims about the King.
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Palace → take → King
A Royal spokesman said: 'While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, 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.'
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others → say → loss
The caustic response is being compared to the late Queen Elizabeth's celebrated remark that 'recollections may vary' about Harry and Meghan's outlandish claims in their Oprah Winfrey interview attacking the Royal Family.
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recollections → compare → Family
Harry was aware his uncle was writing a book about his mother
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uncle → write → mother
The King's unprecedented response via the Palace reveals that he has been outraged by Earl Spencer's claims, experts have said.
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experts → reveal → claims
Charles pictured today at an AI summit at Dumfries House in Cumnock, Ayrshire
Prince William and the Princess of Wales visit Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay on Thursday
Lilibet was seen walking at Althorp, Princess Diana's childhood home - with Harry and Archie strolling together up ahead appearing to hold bouquets, in Meghan's post about their visit in July
Buckingham Palace has issued an extraordinary statement in response while friends of the King have insisted it is 'just not in the King's nature' and that he would not have used 'this kind of language' about Diana.
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he → picture → Diana
The King's anger and an unprecedented slap-down by Buckingham Palace came after the Daily Mail revealed the first details from his searing new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.
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Mail → come → memoir
ITV royal editor Chris Ship said he was 'not expecting' the Palace to respond, but that 'what became very clear from seeing that statement is they're not going to take this one lying down'.
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they → say → one
'I know that Harry's aware of what his uncle has written in this book.
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uncle → know → book
And we also know that Harry stayed with Charles Spencer when he was over in the summer and had a big family gathering,' he claimed.
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he → know → gathering
An insider told Page Six: 'Harry knew what was in the book - it didn't come as a shock.'
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it → tell → shock
However, other insiders claimed that Harry, William and the Palace were not informed about the contents of his memoir at all - but knew the book was coming.
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book → claim → memoir
The King's remarkable statement disputing Earl Spencer's claims reveals the depth of his anger, especially because the Palace ignored Prince Harry's book Spare, according to experts.
Former BBC royal correspondent Peter Hunt said Charles, who is meeting bosses from some of the world's leading AI developers in Scotland today, is 'clearly absolutely incandescent' over the allegations he said Diana would be quickly forgotten.
Former BBC royal reporter Jennie Bond said: 'It is incredibly sad and it is, it seems to me, pure war now.
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it → dispute → me
We lived through the war of the Waleses – I did – back in the 90s between Charles and Diana.
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I → live → Charles
'Now we have another war between Diana's brother and the King and I do not know what purpose it serves.
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it → have → purpose
It can only go to hurt, I think, William and Harry who love their father and probably undoubtedly love their uncle as well.
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who → go → uncle
To see the family torn apart by this serves no purpose.'
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family → see → purpose
Editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine Ingrid Seward said: 'I think Diana would be horrified that her brother has revealed this remark by Charles.
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brother → say → Charles
'When I last met her, six weeks before her death, she was adamant that she and Charles really loved each other.
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she → meet → other
It was so important to her that their children knew that.
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children → know → that
'So she would be horrified that he has shared a comment that could appear to show so much malice.
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that → share → malice
I am sure it was not meant like that.
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it → mean → that
Meanwhile Julian Payne, the King's communications secretary between 2016 and 2021, said the 'highly unusual' statement from the Palace displayed the 'strength of feeling that there must have been for them to feel that they needed to go out there and correct it'.
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they → say → it
He said: 'I just don't recognise the way the King is characterised in those remarks.'
The King is at war with Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, over his bombshell claim that Charles declared 'rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough'
Prince Harry stands between Earl Spencer and Prince Charles outside Westminster Abbey during the funeral procession for Princess Diana on September 6, 1997
Charles and Diana on their last official trip together to South Korea in November 1992
In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, the earl tells how in 1997 he clashed with Charles over the idea of Princes William and Harry walking in their mother's funeral procession.
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William → say → procession
Earl Spencer, 62, says he has written the memoir to correct 'untruths' told about his older sister.
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he → say → sister
The astonishing account of the King's alleged outburst, almost 30 years ago, is described by the earl over several pages.
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account → allege → pages
He says that one of Queen Elizabeth's most senior aides had told him, in the days before the funeral, that William and Harry would take part in the procession, which is when he responded that this was not what his sister would have wanted and was 'not going to happen'.
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sister → say → what
Minutes later, he recalls, he received a phone call from Prince Charles who questioned the Spencer family's sense of duty and insisted that, 18 years earlier, he had walked in the funeral procession of Lord Mountbatten, his great-uncle.
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he → recall → Mountbatten
The memoir describes how Charles 'went nuts' after the earl pointed out that the prince had been 30 at the time of Lord Mountbatten's funeral in 1979.
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prince → describe → 1979
…and 34 more, not listed.
The Aporia
