Royals set for busy day after ‘unprecedented’ palace response to Spencer claims

The King and his two sons are set to embark on a packed schedule of engagements after Buckingham Palace made the “unprecedented” move of pushing back against explosive claims made by the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Earl Spencer’s new memoir alleges Charles told him “we’ll forget her soon enough” after Diana’s death in 1997 — a claim Buckingham Palace has rejected by saying “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason”.

In the book – Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, serialised in the Daily Mail – the earl claims that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, subjected him to a “stream of anger” after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.

Commenting after the excerpts were published, a palace spokesman 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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”

Editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine and author of Catherine And Diana, The Women Who Shaped The Monarchy, Ingrid Seward told the Press Association the palace’s response was “unprecedented”.

The royal commentator said: “It’s unprecedented as far as I can think. It’s very unusual, let’s say. Very unusual.

“I imagine it’s because the King was very upset and wanted to set the record straight – more on behalf of his sons than anything else.”

On Thursday, the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Duke of Sussex are set to carry out official engagements following the rare step taken by the palace.

Charles will address bosses from some of the world’s leading AI developers – Nvidia, Anthropic and OpenAI – about the future of artificial intelligence.

Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales (PA)

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He is expected to tell a summit at Dumfries House in Scotland that the new technology should be in the “service of humanity, community and the natural world”.

Diana’s son William and his wife Kate, who also hold the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, are set to make their first official visit to Isle of Bute.

The day is set to include visiting their namesake town of Rothesay and follows their visits to the Isles of Mull and Iona last year.

The Duke of Sussex is also expected to make his first public appearance after he, along with his wife the Duchess of Sussex, returned to the UK from the US last month.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are in Scotland (Justin Tallis/PA)

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The Duchess of Edinburgh’s visit to Zambia and the Princess Royal’s attendance at the opening of a new History Centre at the German Military Cemetery in Staffordshire are among other royal engagements.

According to a book excerpt, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s senior aides told him that William and Harry were to walk in the procession, prompting the earl to state “that’s not going to happen”.

Charles called minutes later and told him that 18 years earlier he had walked in the funeral procession of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, it is claimed.

In the book, the earl claims: “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped.

“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’.”

Commenting on how the claims will affect the King, Ms Seward told PA: “I think it’s very unpleasant for the King.

“For anyone to say something like that it’s extremely upsetting and I’m delighted he has hit back.”

She said she did not believe the palace would say anything further once the book has been published in full.

Summarising how unprecedented the palace’s response to the claims is, the royal commentator said: “They never comment on books. They never, ever comment on books.

“They might be unhappy about it but they always refrain from making comment.

“But this is very personal so it’s different, and also it’s said by Diana’s brother.

“Charles was grief-stricken at the time, as I’m sure Spencer was as well.

“He was grief-stricken and he never would have said anything remotely against Diana and he felt consumed by guilt that she was even in this situation of being in a car speeding through a tunnel in Paris with her Egyptian lover.

“He felt really guilty that she was in that situation.”

She added that she believed the palace’s response was because of how unpleasant the situation is for William and Harry.

Ms Seward said: “I don’t think Charles Spencer really cares what the palace think of him.

“He’s his own person in his own right and I don’t suppose he cares what the palace think of him.

“But it’s pretty unpleasant for William and Harry to have their father painted in this way and I think that’s why the palace hit back.

“I think Charles could easily take it on the chin because he’s been criticised so many times before, but I think it’s really for William and Harry that this has become such a big story.”