Story summary
Charles Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, claims in his upcoming memoir, "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," that then-Prince Charles sounded “giddily elated” and like a lottery winner when he called to inform him about Princess Diana's fatal car crash in 1997. In the book excerpt published by The Daily Mail, Spencer describes how unlike other callers who were stunned and speechless, Prince Charles was oddly upbeat during their conversation.
Spencer further states that Charles informed him early the next morning that he had told their sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, about Diana’s death in their bedrooms at Balmoral. He speculates this could have been because Charles felt freed to pursue a relationship with now-Queen Camilla, whom he later married.
In response to these claims, Buckingham Palace issued a rare statement acknowledging that grief can cloud reason, judgment, and memory, but did not directly address Spencer's specific allegations. The book is set to be released next week, continuing the ongoing debate over Diana’s legacy and Charles’s actions during those tumultuous days in 1997.
Written for “Charles Elated After Diana's Death” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 19 other(s) covering the same event.
The palace are yet to respond to the latest claims, 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
‘He sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner’
asserted
He → sound → winner
In possibly the most shocking new allegation, the Earl has said that Charles sounded “giddily elated” when they spoke just hours after Diana’s death.
uncertain
they → say → death
The Earl alleges that he was flooded with calls when the news broke, with many callers barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help.
asserted
callers → allege → help
Charles’ reaction, however, is alleged to have been somewhat different.
asserted
reaction → allege → ?
The Earl wrote: “He sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.
asserted
I → write → 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
‘He was happy to marry her, but was not actually in love with her’
asserted
He → marry → her
The Earl claims that, the day before Charles and Diana’s wedding, his sister had confided to a close friend, her husband-to-be had told her that “he was very happy to marry her, but he was not actually in love with her.”
uncertain
he → claim → her
He added that, just two months after becoming engaged, she had become so concerned about their relationship that she tried to break it off - but that her father said it was impossible to pull out of such an enormous commitment.
asserted
it → add → commitment
The Earl alleges that Diana told him that, on the day of her wedding, she had been “in the throes” of an eating disorder for five months.
asserted
she → allege → months
He claims that Diana “recoiled” from the photographs taken following her engagement, feeling that her 5ft 10in frame looked heavier than she wanted.
uncertain
she → claim → engagement
He also claims that Prince Charles had squeezed her waist a few days after the engagement, saying, “Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?”
uncertain
we → claim → engagement
Diana would later share with the Earl that her waist shrank from 29 to 22.5 inches between her engagement and her marriage, he says.
asserted
he → share → engagement
The Earl claims that Diana’s issues were exacerbated when her care was handed over to Dr John Batten, a 58-year-old who had been the Queen’s physician since 1974, rather than long-term family GP, Mike Bloomer, a close family friend.
uncertain
who → claim → 1974
The Earl claims that Diana considered suicide on a number of occasions in the years before her death.
uncertain
Diana → claim → death
He wrote: “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.
“Her love for her sons stopped her from going further.”
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love → write → her
More extracts from the bombshell book are due to be released tomorrow.
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extracts → release → book
He mentions “very serious tensions” between the Queen and then-Prince Charles’s teams ahead of the ceremony.
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He → mention → ceremony
This led to no one from the Royal Family talking to the Earl directly about the funeral arrangements - with such matters “farmed out” to a courtier instead.
asserted
matters → lead → courtier
According to the Earl, these were caused by “the heir to the throne’s growing frustrations at being a middle-aged man still waiting to reign.”
uncertain
these → accord → frustrations
‘Relieved – indeed, pleased – that she had gone’
asserted
she → go → ?
In the memoir, Earl Spencer is full of praise for Lieutenant Colonel Malcolm Ross, who was in charge of all ceremonial and official events that the Queen was to attend.
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Queen → attend → that
He says that Lt Col Ross always treated him with extreme courtesy - unlike others in the Palace.
asserted
Ross → say → Palace
Speaking of Diana, he wrote: “There were others in the Palace, I already knew, who were relieved – indeed, pleased – that she had gone.”
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she → speak → Palace
‘We’ll forget her soon enough!’
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We → forget → her
The Earl says he insisted to the then-Prince of Wales that Diana would not have wanted Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to have made the difficult public walk in her funeral procession.
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William → say → procession
Charles called minutes later and told him that 18 years earlier he had walked in the funeral procession of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten - to which the Earl pointed out that Charles had been 30 at the time of Lord Mountbatten’s funeral in 1979.
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Charles → call → 1979
The Earl claims: “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting.
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me → claim → anger
Then he stopped.
asserted
he → stop → ?
“I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death.
asserted
world → assume → death
‘Rest assured’, he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’”
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we → rest → her
The Earl says he then hung up the phone.
asserted
he → say → phone
The Aporia
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