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Earl Spencer’s book excerpts published by the Daily Mail claim Prince Charles sounded unusually elated and matter-of-fact during a phone call to Spencer shortly after Princess Diana’s death in 1997. Buckingham Palace responded defensively, stating that grief can distort judgment without addressing specific claims. The article also includes Spencer’s recollections of Diana contemplating suicide at Beachy Head and her revelation about Charles's affair with his valet.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-17,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Charles Spencer, Diana's brother and the ninth Earl Spencer, claims in his upcoming memoir "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister" that then-Prince Charles told him over the phone days after Diana’s death on August 31, 1997, to “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” The incident occurred during a heated argument about funeral arrangements where Prince William and Harry were set to walk in their mother's funeral procession. Spencer insisted that Diana would not have wanted this ordeal for her young sons, aged 15 and 12 at the time. Charles allegedly questioned the Spencer family’s sense of duty before making the controversial statement.
In response to these allegations, Buckingham Palace released a statement saying the king is "mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss," effectively disputing the authenticity of Spencer's recollection.
Written for “Charles Spencer Memoir Claims” on 2026-09-18,
grounded in this article and the 33 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
This article does not take a side on a contested political
question, so it has no leaning score. That is an
answer rather than a gap: a match report or a rescue can be warmly
or critically written without being left or right, and scoring it
anyway is how approval of a subject gets recorded as a political
position.
No political leaning scored for article 16611 · logged 2026-09-17
Allegations published in the Daily Mail sparked an “unprecedented” response from Buckingham Palace, who said “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason” after the earl’s book made explosive claims.
uncertain
book → publish → claims
In excerpts from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – Earl Spencer spoke of how Charles’s phone call following the car crash in 1997 “all sounded strangely matter-of-fact”.
asserted
call → speak → 1997
One passage read: “Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.
asserted
I → read → time
“He let me know he had informed William and Harry of their mother’s death, first thing that morning, in their bedrooms at Balmoral.
asserted
he → let → Balmoral
“It all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster.
asserted
It → sound → disaster
“Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.”
uncertain
he → look → one
The palace are yet to respond to the latest claims serialised by the Daily Mail, but a spokesman said on Wednesday: “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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.
uncertain
others → respond → loss
In other passages of the book, Earl Spencer spoke of how his sister drove “more than once” to the cliffs at Beachy Head in East Sussex and was “contemplating ending it all”, adding that “her love for her sons stopped her from going further”.
asserted
love → speak → her
The excerpt later goes on to claim that Diana told her brother “my husband is in love with his valet” after telling him she was going to get divorced.
uncertain
she → go → him
The book reads: “It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all.
“
asserted
Diana → read → it
Her love for her sons stopped her from going further.
asserted
love → stop → her
“One day Diana asked me at very short notice to join her for lunch at San Lorenzo, her favourite London restaurant.
asserted
Diana → ask → Lorenzo
Read More
“She looked down at the table and said, ‘Carlos, I’m going to get divorced.’
asserted
I → read → table
I had known things were bad, but not this bad.
asserted
things → know → ?
“‘Well, Duch,’ I carefully replied, ‘you of course have my full support…
asserted
you → reply → support
I know you’ll have thought this through.
asserted
you → know → this
I fear they won’t forgive you.
asserted
they → fear → you
They’ve bought into a fairytale, and I reckon they may well – wrongly – blame you for destroying their fantasy.’
uncertain
they → buy → fantasy
“She looked up at me, nodded, and said quietly: ‘But, Carlos, my husband is in love with his valet.’
“I gulped.
asserted
I → look → valet
‘Well, I guess, in that case, you really don’t have a choice’.”
asserted
you → guess → choice
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