That is 0 articles you have read today.
The Aporia is free and carries no advertising, so readers are the only
thing paying for it. If you are getting this much out of it, a small
donation is what keeps it independent.
Daily limit reached
You have read 0 articles today.
That is more than the 15 a day The Aporia gives away,
and well past what it can carry on nothing. Your allowance resets at
midnight.
There is no advertising here and nothing about you is sold, so readers
are the only thing paying for it. If the site is worth this much of
your day, it is worth a few dollars.
Everything else stays open: the
maps, the
directory and
search do
not count against this, and neither does re-opening something you have
already read today.
If you are struggling, help is available
- US and Canada · call or text 988
- UK and Ireland · Samaritans, 116 123
- Australia · Lifeline, 13 11 14
- Anywhere else ·
findahelpline.com
lists services by country
This article mentions suicide or self-harm. These services are free and
confidential, and they are not connected to this site.
Charles Spencer, Princess Diana's brother, claims in his new book that King Charles sounded "like a lottery winner" shortly after Diana's death in 1997. In an interview with the Daily Mail, Spencer suggests that Prince Charles at the time was elated because he foresaw freedom to marry Camilla Parker Bowles. Buckingham Palace responded by stating that grief can distort memory and judgment, without directly addressing the specific claims made about King Charles' reaction.
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
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted
verbatim and was checked against the article text before being
stored, so you can find it in the original.
Leaning score -0.35 for article 16639 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-09-17
Claims extracted
11
claim-shaped sentences
Uncertain
18%
2 of 11 hedged
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject
Correction & hedging signals
58.9
corrections and hedging in what we collected;
not a measure of accuracy
Outlets on this story
34
Politics
Narrative spread
1
articles carrying this framing
King Charles sounded like 'lottery winner' after Diana's death, her brother writes
asserted
brother → sound → death
Britain's King Charles sounded "like a lottery winner" after the death of his late first wife Diana, her brother writes in his forthcoming book, new extracts of which were published on Thursday.
asserted
extracts → sound → Thursday
Diana's brother Charles Spencer said the then-Prince Charles was "giddily elated" in the immediate aftermath of Diana's death in 1997, possibly because he felt it meant he was freer to marry again, according to passages in the Daily Mail.
Charles on Wednesday took the unusual step of responding to criticism after the first extracts of Spencer's book were published in the Daily Mail, saying via a spokesperson that grief could impact reason, judgment and memory.
uncertain
grief → say → reason
There was no new comment from the king on the latest excerpts, which also stated that Diana went to a site of many suicides on Britain's south coast, but that her love for her sons, William and Harry, "stopped her from going further".
asserted
love → be → her
"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," Spencer wrote.
asserted
Spencer → drive → it
Diana was killed at the age of 36 when the car carrying her and her lover Dodi al-Fayed crashed in Paris as it sped away from chasing paparazzi photographers on motorbikes.
asserted
it → kill → motorbikes
Spencer says in the book that he spoke to Charles shortly after Diana's death was confirmed, writing: "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 → say → time
Spencer added: "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 → add → one
Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.
asserted
Charles → separate → 1996
That was a year after Diana told the BBC that "there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded" in reference to Charles' relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he married in 2005.
asserted
he → tell → 2005
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson 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." REUTERS
asserted
others → say → loss
The Aporia
