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.
Earl Spencer has told the BBC that Prince Charles said "We'll forget her soon enough" about Princess Diana during a phone call after her death, which he says stunned him. Buckingham Palace responded with a statement suggesting Earl Spencer's memory may be clouded by grief. In an interview from his Althorp estate, Spencer insists on the accuracy of his account and calls Charles' alleged remark "monstrous." The article centers around the dispute over the veracity of these claims between Earl Spencer and Buckingham Palace following the release of Spencer's memoir.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-18,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
Experts suggest that Earl Spencer felt a duty to write his memoir about Diana's life. In the book, he makes explosive claims against King Charles, alleging that shortly after Princess Diana’s death in 1997, then-Prince Charles said "we’ll forget her soon enough." This prompted Buckingham Palace to issue a statement saying His Majesty is mindful that fraternal grief can cloud judgment and reason.
Spencer accused the king of gaslighting him when the palace responded by questioning his recollections. He called the palace's defense a "rather poor imitation" of how Queen Elizabeth II handled similar allegations from Prince Harry in their Oprah interview.
The book also includes details about an alleged row over Diana’s funeral arrangements where King Charles reportedly went ballistic, criticizing Spencer's family for not fulfilling their duties adequately enough. Buckingham Palace did not comment on the specifics of these claims but suggested that grief could affect memory accuracy over time.
Earl Spencer told BBC he wanted to put down truths before it was too late due to his awareness of mortality. He added that there are other facts about King Charles he chose not to include in the book, deeming them irrelevant.
Written for “Diana Controversies Royal Family” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 92 other(s) covering the same event.
- Read part one of our exclusive serialisation of Swan Song: Diana, My Sister - the searing memoir that has started a war of words with the King - here
- See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source
Earl Spencer has insisted he is 'telling the truth' about a phone call with Prince Charles following the death of his sister, Princess Diana.
Charles Spencer says in his new autobiography - exclusively serialised in the Daily Mail - that the then-Prince said of his ex-wife 'We'll forget her soon enough' amidst an argument over William and Harry's involvement in her funeral.
Buckingham Palace reacted with a strongly worded - and rare - public statement, saying the King was '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'.
But the earl has insisted: 'I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.'
asserted
he → read → you
Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg from his Althorp estate in Northamptonshire, Earl Spencer said he had told friends and family of Charles' alleged words at the time, labelling them 'monstrous'.
asserted
he → speak → them
'I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life,' he said.
asserted
he → have → life
'I was hyper alert to what he was saying and those are precisely the words that he said and I promise that to you now.'
asserted
I → say → you
Alluding to the Palace's statement, he added: 'Genuinely, that is what he said.
asserted
he → allude → what
I don't hear him saying he didn't say that.'
asserted
he → hear → that
Earl Spencer has insisted he is 'telling the truth' about remarks made by the then-Prince Charles in the wake of Princess Diana's death
The earl claims Charles 'went ballistic' and 'ranted for a while' after he tried to tell the future King that Diana would not have wanted William and Harry to walk in her procession.
'And then he stopped and I thought, oh now, now he's gonna pull himself together and say something more appropriate,' he said.
uncertain
he → insist → something
'And then, he said, "we'll forget her soon enough".'
asserted
we → say → her
Earl Spencer added that the remark 'stunned' him, and that he hung up.
Prince Harry and Prince William, aged 12 and 15, ultimately did walk behind Diana's coffin in her funeral procession in September 1997 alongside Charles, Prince Philip and Earl Spencer.
asserted
Harry → add → Charles
Harry would later tell Newsweek magazine of the decision: 'My mother had just died and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television.
asserted
millions → tell → television
I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances.
asserted
child → think → circumstances
I don’t think it would happen today.'
asserted
it → think → ?
Earl Spencer's book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is due to be published next week.
asserted
book → publish → ?
However, several copies of the book were stolen from a lorry parked in a lay-by in the Netherlands earlier this week.
asserted
copies → steal → Netherlands
The tomes had been wrapped in black plastic to hide their contents, but publishing insiders believe they may have been deliberately targeted in an audacious bid to steal them before the official release.
uncertain
they → wrap → release
The Aporia
