Royal family news live: Queen Elizabeth offered to restore Diana’s title on day of funeral, Earl Spencer claims

Prince Harry remained silent about claims made in his uncle Earl Spencer’s bombshell memoir about the day of Princess Diana’s death as he made his first public appearance since moving back to the UK.

Earl Spencer has claimed that King Charles sounded “giddily elated” and “like a lottery winner” on the day the Princess of Wales’ death in his memoir Swan Song: Diary, My Sister, serialised in the Daily Mail.

The book also alleges that in the days after Diana’s death, King Charles had said: “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough”.

The Duke of Sussex, who has remained close with Earl Spencer since he stopped being a working royal, said nothing of his uncle’s book, and its reflections on his father’s attitude around his mother’s death, when asked by reporters as he attended the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards in London.

The King, Prince William and Princess Catherine also said little of the allegations as they carried out royal engagements, with the latter two meeting residents on Scotland’s Isle of Bute while Charles presided over a gathering of the world’s leading AI companies

Responding to the latest allegations, Buckingham Palace said that the King is mindful that “grief can cloud reason” on Wednesday.

In pictures: Prince and Princess of Wales carry out engagements amid Earl Spencer's bombshell book serialisation

Bryony Gooch18 September 2026 07:45

Prince Harry says nothing of Earl Spencer's book in first public appearance since returning to the UK

Prince Harry was seen for the first time in public since returning to the UK when he attended the inaugural Invictus Spirit Awards in London.

As he attended the event, after the King emphasised he was no longer a working member of the royal family, he said little of the bombshell revelations in his uncle’s book.

The Duke of Sussex has remained close to Earl Spencer as his relationship with the Windsors has grown strained.

Bryony Gooch18 September 2026 07:37

Bryony Gooch18 September 2026 07:30

King set for third day of controversy as ‘war of words’ rumbles on

The King looks set to endure a third day of controversy as the war of words between Buckingham Palace and Earl Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, continues.

In the latest extract from Earl Spencer’s book serialised in the Daily Mail, Diana’s brother claimed that the late Queen Elizabeth II considered restoring his sister’s Her Royal Highness title, which she lost when she divorced Charles.

It comes after a dispute blew up between the King and Earl Spencer, who claimed the then-prince told him, “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough”, days after Diana’s death in 1997.

Earl Spencer further claimed in his memoir of his sister that the King sounded “giddily elated… like a lottery winner” when he rang the earl following the princess’ death.

Bryony Gooch18 September 2026 07:15

Jane Dalton18 September 2026 07:00

Diana tried to break off engagement to Charles, claims Spencer's memoir

Princess Diana tried to break off her engagement to Prince Charles after finding a bracelet that he had bought for Camilla, Earl Spencer has claimed in his memoir.

The princess had been seen in tears as she said goodbye to Charles as he left for official business, he writes, adding that newspapers believed it was “the pain of a lovestruck innocent being parted from her fiancé”.

Spencer adds: “The truth was very different. Diana was completely at sea, having found a bracelet that Prince Charles had bought for Camilla.

“A month or so after that, she became so concerned she even tried to break off their engagement. “

The book also claims that Charles told Diana that he did not love her on the eve of their wedding.

“Only much later would I discover that, as she confided to a close friend, her husband-­to-­be had told her the previous day that she needed to know he was very happy to marry her, but he was not actually in love with her,” Spencer wrote.

“Diana had to absorb that hammer blow while also feeling certain that Prince Charles was entering their marriage with his heart elsewhere.”

Jane Dalton18 September 2026 06:00

Jane Dalton18 September 2026 05:00

Jane Dalton18 September 2026 03:40

Jane Dalton18 September 2026 02:20

In pictures: William and Kate at Beachwatch Bute