'We'll forget her soon enough': Buckingham Palace defends King Charles against Princess Diana memoir allegations
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "'We'll forget her soon enough': Buckingham Palace defends King Charles against Princess Diana memoir allegations")
Princess Diana and Prince (now King) Charles on their wedding day Photograph: (Wikimedia Commons)
In a rare move, Buckingham Palace has issued a statement defending King Charles over allegations made by the late Princess Diana's brother, Earl Charles Spencer, in a new memoir.
Buckingham Palace has taken the unprecedented step of publicly challenging allegations made by Earl Charles Spencer, Princess Diana’s brother, in his upcoming memoir. The palace instructed officials to push back against Spencer’s account of a heated phone call with King Charles shortly after Diana died in 1997.
This move breaks the royal family’s traditional stance of remaining silent during public criticism, signaling deep concern over the revelations set to be published in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister on September 22.
In an official statement released to international news outlets on Wednesday, a palace spokesperson said, “Grief can cloud reason and distort memory. It is unhelpful to revisit events from this period based on recollections filtered through decades of emotion.”
While the carefully worded statement does not directly call Spencer a liar, it clearly questions the accuracy of his memory nearly 30 years later.
What has Earl Charles Spencer claimed?
In excerpts published by the Daily Mail earlier, Spencer describes an angry phone conversation with King Charles, then the Prince of Wales, following Diana’s fatal car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.
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Spencer claims Charles lost his temper during a debate over funeral plans, specifically regarding whether young Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin. Describing the moment, Spencer writes, “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”.
According to Spencer, Charles then made a striking remark about the global outpouring of grief. “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough”.
Why the Palace responded
The decision to issue a formal rebuttal is being seen as a calculated PR strategy to counter Spencer’s claims before the book hits shelves worldwide. Palace insiders worry the memoir contains further allegations that could damage the monarchy's image and reshape how the public views the events surrounding Diana’s death.
The controversy comes alongside an unusual pre-release incident. Dutch police are currently investigating the theft of four copies of Swan Song from a delivery truck in the Netherlands. Publishers called the theft "extremely suspicious" because the thieves targeted only Spencer’s memoir out of thousands of books on board. The incident has fueled massive media coverage ahead of the release.
A modern strategy to protect the crown?
Royal advisors determined that staying silent posed a bigger risk than speaking out. In today's fast-moving media landscape, unchecked claims can quickly become accepted as historical facts on social media and international news channels.
By framing the issue around how grief can blur memories over time, the palace subtly questions Spencer's accuracy without accusing him of lying directly.
Impact on the royal family
Publishing sources suggest King Charles is "bracing for the worst" as the memoir prepares to launch globally in 12 languages. The timing is particularly sensitive as the 30th anniversary of Princess Diana's death approaches. Spencer noted he chose this moment to set the record straight before narrative errors become permanent.
For King Charles, who took the throne less than four years ago, the book is likely to reopen painful family history at a time when he is focused on projecting stability in the United Kingdom.
