King Charles Responds to Diana Book as Spencer Claims Palace Hissed Forgotten Promise

Buckingham Palace issued a rare public statement defending King Charles III after explosive allegations surfaced from a forthcoming memoir by Earl Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana. The book claims that just days after Diana’s death in 1997, Charles-then Prince of Wales-told Spencer during a heated telephone argument, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough!” The statement represents an unusual departure from the Palace’s typical policy of silence on published materials.

“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,” the Buckingham Palace spokesperson told the BBC.

The Palace response stops short of directly denying the allegations but suggests that grief may have distorted Spencer’s recollection of events that took place nearly three decades ago. Relations between the Royal Family and Spencer have remained strained for years, with the upcoming memoir threatening to reopen old wounds surrounding Diana’s tumultuous marriage and tragic death in a Paris car crash in August 1997.

Stolen Copies Spark Early Leak

Spencer’s memoir, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” is not scheduled for publication until next week, yet details began circulating after a bizarre incident in the Netherlands. According to reports from the Daily Mail, a truck transporting copies between a printing plant and warehouse was intercepted while parked in a lay-by on Monday. Four copies of the book were mysteriously stolen, and revelations about its contents leaked shortly afterward.

The Daily Mail has begun serializing the memoir, revealing Spencer’s account of a confrontation with Charles over funeral arrangements. The dispute centered on whether Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12 respectively, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the public procession. Spencer insisted Diana would not have wanted her young sons subjected to such a difficult public ordeal, according to the book excerpts.

The Funeral Procession Dispute

According to Spencer’s account, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s senior aides informed him that William and Harry were scheduled to walk in the funeral procession. The Earl reportedly responded firmly, stating “that’s not going to happen.” Minutes later, Charles called and argued that 18 years earlier he had walked in the funeral procession of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, following the latter’s assassination in 1979.

Spencer pointed out the crucial difference: Charles had been 30 years old at the time of Mountbatten’s funeral, not a grieving child. The conversation escalated from there, with Spencer claiming Charles unleashed what he interpreted as “pent-up contempt for Diana” and horror at the world’s overwhelming response to her death.

“Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped,” Spencer wrote in the book excerpt. “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. ‘Rest assured’, he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!'”

Spencer says he hung up the phone immediately after the alleged remark. Ultimately, William, Harry, Charles, Prince Philip, and the Earl all walked behind Diana’s coffin in what became one of the most watched and emotionally charged moments in modern royal history.

Correcting Untruths About Diana

According to the newspaper serialization, Spencer states he wrote “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” to correct “untruths” told about his older sister. The book arrives at a particularly sensitive time for the King, who is currently battling cancer. Royal watchers fear the memoir could contain numerous bombshells about Charles and Diana’s relationship, which was infamously plagued by adultery and acrimony throughout their marriage and separation.

The timing echoes another damaging memoir from within the royal circle. Prince Harry published his equally revealing book, “Spare,” in 2022, creating headlines worldwide and leading to a significant falling-out with his family. In that memoir, Harry addressed long-standing rumors about his paternity, recalling how King Charles would joke about whether he was Harry’s “real father” or if that distinction belonged to his mother’s former lover, James Hewitt.

Royal Family Braces for Impact

“Pa liked telling stories, and this was one of the best in his repertoire,” Harry wrote, describing how Charles would laugh about paternity rumors despite their cruelty. “Who knows if I’m really the Prince of Wales? Who knows if I’m even your real father?”

Harry set the record straight by noting his mother didn’t meet Hewitt until long after his birth in 1984, though the affair reportedly began around 1987. Hewitt himself has repeatedly denied being Harry’s father, suggesting in 2017 that the rumor persists simply because “it sells papers.”

The Palace’s decision to respond to Spencer’s book-however obliquely-signals serious concern about its potential impact. The carefully worded statement neither confirms nor denies specific allegations but attempts to cast doubt on the reliability of Spencer’s decades-old memories. By invoking the distorting effects of “fraternal grief,” the Palace suggests Spencer’s recollections may be colored by his own emotional trauma and protective feelings toward his sister.

As publication day approaches, the Royal Family faces renewed scrutiny of a chapter they likely hoped had closed. The book threatens to resurrect painful memories of Diana’s death and reignite debates about how she was treated by the institution she married into, ensuring that nearly three decades later, the Princess of Wales remains impossible to forget.