Charles Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, defended his claims about King Charles III in an interview with the BBC, insisting that he is "telling the truth" despite Buckingham Palace's criticism. In his upcoming memoir, Spencer alleges that Prince Charles sounded "giddily elated" on the phone during a conversation shortly after Diana’s fatal car crash in 1997 and reportedly said "we'll forget her soon enough" days later. Buckingham Palace has not commented further since its initial statement but analysts noted the unusually strong language used, suggesting a departure from traditional royal diplomacy.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-19,
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.
In short:
Charles Spencer has given his first interview after a week of making explosive claims about Britain's royal family.
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Spencer → give → family
The accusations, which are contained in Earl Spencer's new book, have sparked a war of words with Buckingham Palace.
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which → contain → Palace
Princess Diana's brother defended himself in the exchange with the BBC, broadcast on Friday evening.
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brother → defend → evening
Princess Diana's brother has doubled down on explosive claims about Britain's royal family, insisting he is "telling the truth" and suggesting the king is "embarrassed".
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king → double → truth
Charles Spencer's numerous bombshell accusations, which are particularly critical of King Charles III, are contained in his soon-to-be-released memoir, excerpts of which have been published this week.
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excerpts → contain → which
The most disparaging allegations Earl Spencer has made relate to phone calls he says he had with Charles around the time of Diana's 1997 death in a car crash.
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he → make → crash
Charles and Diana's acrimonious divorce had been finalised the previous year.
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divorce → finalise → ?
Earl Spencer accused the Charles of sounding "giddily elated" during a conversation on the night Diana died, and also of saying "we'll forget her soon enough" several days after the crash.
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we → accuse → crash
The claims have sparked a strong rebuke from Buckingham Palace.
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claims → spark → Palace
After the first excerpts were published on Wednesday, a palace spokesperson 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 → publish → loss
It has not commented since then.
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It → comment → ?
Analysts have pointed out the strong choice of words used in the statement are a departure from the diplomatic language often chosen by British monarchs.
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choice → point → monarchs
In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Friday evening, local time, Earl Spencer defended himself.
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Spencer → broadcast → himself
Reacting to the palace's statement, he said: "Well, is he [the king] furious?
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he → react → statement
When pressed about his claims that King Charles — who was not on the throne at the time — had told him "we will forget" about Diana, Earl Spencer said: "I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life."
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I → press → 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."
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I → say → you
When he was asked whether he had any evidence to back up the allegation, Earl Spencer said he had told friends and family about it at the time "because it was so monstrous".
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it → ask → time
Earl Spencer was later asked whether the public should believe him or the palace's version of events, and replied: "I'm telling the truth.
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I → ask → truth
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper published more excerpts from the book titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, on Friday.
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newspaper → publish → Friday
In one passage, Earl Spencer claimed Queen Elizabeth II, who was the reigning monarch at the time, had offered to reinstate Diana's HRH title hours after her funeral had concluded.
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funeral → claim → title
While Diana remained a princess after her divorce, the Queen symbolically stripped her of the HRH designation, in a move that had left Diana devastated.
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that → remain → Diana
Earl Spencer said he declined Queen Elizabeth's offer.
"
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he → say → offer
The title should never have been removed during her life, in which case it would not have been necessary to offer it to her in death," he wrote in his book.
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he → remove → book
In another claim published Friday, Earl Spencer said he worried about the level of care given to Charles and Diana's youngest son, Prince Harry, on the day of the funeral.
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he → publish → funeral
On Thursday, Dickie Arbiter, who was Buckingham Palace's press spokesman at the time Diana died, rubbished the claims made in the book.
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Diana → die → book
He told the BBC Earl Spencer was "just talking hogwash" and that King Charles had been "devastated" by his ex-wife's death.
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Charles → tell → death
The book is due to hit stores next week.
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book → hit → stores
The Aporia
