Despite royal denials, Diana’s brother doubles down on claims against King Charles in new book

(Left to right) Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, her two sons Harry and William, and her former husband then-Prince Charles arrive at Westminster Abbey in London to attend the funeral ceremony of Diana, Princess of Wales, on September 6, 1997. Buckingham Palace on September 17, 2026 has hit back at claims by the late Princess Diana's brother that King Charles III acted insensitively following her death in a car crash almost 30 years ago. The palace issued an unusually strong statement after Charles Spencer claimed in his new memoir that the then-prince, Diana's former husband, said "rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough" days after she died in 1997. — AFP pool pic

First Published: Sunday, 20 Sep 2026 7:00 AM MYT

LONDON, Sept 20 — Fresh claims made by Charles Spencer, the younger brother of the late princess Diana, have been published as he doubled down on his allegation that King Charles III said “we’ll forget her soon enough” after Diana died, reported PA Media/dpa.

The earl has made a series of damning claims about the king in a new memoir chronicling the life of his sister Diana that prompted an “unprecedented” response from Buckingham Palace who said “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason.”

In an extract of a BBC interview released on Friday, the earl insisted he is “telling the truth” and described the king’s comments about his sister as “monstrous.”

Speaking about an alleged row over Diana’s funeral arrangements involving her sons, the earl said: “(The king) went ballistic, would be the right term, and started really going for my family as a whole, about their sense of duty, not being adequate enough, and ranted for a while, I have no idea how long, but it was a significant period, and I just listened.

“And then he stopped, and I thought, ‘Oh now he’s going to pull himself together and say something more appropriate.’

“And then he said, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’.”

Asked whether he has “evidence” of the king’s comments, the earl told the BBC: “I told friends and family straight away, close friends and family, about what had been said, because it was so monstrous.”

He added: “I’m telling the truth.”

Charles is said to have made the comments about his ex-wife in a row with the earl over whether the then Prince William and Prince Harry should follow Diana’s funeral cortege.

In the latest extract of the earl’s book serialized in the Daily Mail, Earl Spencer told of his memories of the funeral, and his concern for Harry, after he observed a “lack of obvious care” for the then 12-year-old prince.

Spencer walked behind Diana’s coffin during the funeral procession on September 6, 1997, alongside Harry, William, then 15, Charles, and the late duke of Edinburgh.

Recounting the train journey from London to Althorp after the funeral, Spencer said: “My chief memory of that train journey is of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for Harry, as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning.

“He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him.

“But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control.”

Spencer said he could not get over how “tiny, and slight, and bereft” his nephew looked, adding he remembers thinking Harry was “too small to be doing this”.

In a previously published excerpt, Spencer claimed the then-prince Charles “went nuts” in a row over Diana’s funeral arrangements, after he told him she “never would have wanted” her sons to walk behind her coffin.

The earl claimed Charles told him: “That’s the problem with your family.

“They’ve got no bloody sense of duty.”

The earl further claimed that on that same train journey, he was told the late queen Elizabeth II had offered to restore Diana’s Her Royal Highness title.

Spencer said Elizabeth’s private secretary, Robert Fellowes, relayed the offer after the late queen phoned him.

The earl recounted telling Fellowes that while Elizabeth’s offer was “very kind”, he failed to see the point in restoring her title, adding: “I mean - Diana’s dead.”

Spencer further claimed Elizabeth reacted “tetchily” to news of his sister having been in a car accident.

He said: “When the queen had heard the first news of Diana’s being in a traffic accident, she had asked tetchily, ‘What is she up to now?’

“This, before the seriousness of it all became clear.” — Bernama-PA media/dpa