Earl Spencer doubles down on claims about ‘monstrous’ call with Charles after Diana’s death | Monarchy | The Guardian  (earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death.html)   (../../../../../assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/manifest.json)  (https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon.svg) (https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-512.png) (https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-360.png) (https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-240.png) (https://assets.guim.co.uk/static/frontend/icons/homescreen/apple-touch-icon-120.png) (../../../../../static.guim.co.uk/images/favicon-32x32.ico) (https://assets.guim.co.uk/) (https://i.guim.co.uk) (https://j.ophan.co.uk) (https://ophan.theguardian.com) (https://sourcepoint.theguardian.com) (https://assets.guim.co.uk/) (https://i.guim.co.uk) (https://j.ophan.co.uk) 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(https://www.theguardian.com/uk/scotland) Scotland  (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/wales) Wales  (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/northernireland) Northern Ireland                      (Charles Spencer)          Spencer stood firm in his recollection after the palace suggested his memory had been clouded by ‘fraternal grief’. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA     (earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death.html#img-1)   View image in fullscreen       Spencer stood firm in his recollection after the palace suggested his memory had been clouded by ‘fraternal grief’. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA       (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/monarchy) Monarchy     Earl Spencer doubles down on claims about ‘monstrous’ call with Charles after Diana’s death   Buckingham Palace has rebutted claim by Charles Spencer, Diana’s brother, that then prince told him ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’         (https://www.theguardian.com/profile/sammy-gecsoyler) Sammy Gecsoyler   Fri 18 Sep 2026 13.40 EDT  Last modified on Fri 18 Sep 2026 18.53 EDT   (mailto:?subject=Earl Spencer doubles down on claims about ‘monstrous’ call with Charles after Diana’s death&body=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/18/earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death?CMP=share_btn_url) Share          (https://www.google.com/preferences/source?q=theguardian.com) Prefer the Guardian on Google          Earl Spencer has doubled down on his bombshell claim that King Charles said of (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/diana) Diana, Princess of Wales , “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough” days after her death, saying he is telling the truth. The alleged comments, revealed in Charles Spencer’s memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is being serialised in the Daily Mail, prompted Buckingham Palace to issue an extraordinary statement suggesting Diana’s brother had misremembered events, saying “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise”.  In an interview with the BBC, Spencer stood firm in his recollection, telling Laura Kuenssberg: “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.” Responding to the palace’s statement, Spencer said: “Well, is he furious? Is he furious, or is he embarrassed?” When asked about the inference that his memory was coloured, Spencer said: “They’ve sort of smudged that one, haven’t they? (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/17/charles-earl-spencer-diana-royal-statements) They’ve said that recollections may vary.”        (Diana in a black dress)   (earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death.html#img-2)   View image in fullscreen       Diana died in a car crash in 1997, at the age of 36. Photograph: Simon Kreitem/Reuters  Spencer said the call was one of two he had with Charles in his lifetime and said he told his friends and family members at the time about the comment “because it was so monstrous”. The alleged comment was revealed on Wednesday in an extract from the memoir published in the Daily Mail. The comment by the then prince was allegedly made during a heated argument over funeral arrangements. Spencer says it reflected Charles’s (https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16136479/Charles-told-Earl-Spencer-forget-Diana-soon-enough.html) “pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death” , the Daily Mail reported. (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/17/charles-giddily-elated-dianas-death-earl-spencer-book)  Charles sounded ‘giddily elated’ after Diana’s death, claims Earl Spencer      Read more        Among other claims in the book are that Diana told a friend on the eve of her wedding to Charles that he said he was happy to marry her, but was not actually in love with her. On Friday, the second extract from the memoir was published. Spencer writes Charles was “polite and formal” on the day of Diana’s funeral and says Prince Philip told him to look ahead while walking in unison alongside his nephews and former brother-in-law. “It was hellish, entering that tunnel of grief, particularly because we were unable to put a face to it by looking at the individuals in the crowd,” said Spencer of the procession.       (Philip, William, Spencer, Harry and Charles walking in Diana’s funeral procession)   (earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death.html#img-3)   View image in fullscreen       From left: Prince Philip, Prince William, Charles Spencer, Prince Harry and King Charles, then a prince, walking in Diana’s funeral procession. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/AP  In the extract released on Wednesday, Spencer says he insisted to Charles that Diana would not have wanted her sons, Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, to walk in her funeral procession. In the end, her sons walked behind her coffin, which William later called “one of the hardest things I’ve ever done”. Spencer wrote that when one of Queen Elizabeth’s most senior aides told him in the days before the funeral that William and Harry would take part in the procession, he responded: “That’s not going to happen.” (earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death.html#EmailSignup-skip-link-14) skip past newsletter promotion     Free newsletter | Every day    Sign up to Headlines UK  Get the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning  ()   Enter your email  ()   Sign up      after newsletter promotion   But minutes later he received a phone call from Charles, who insisted it should. It was during the ensuing argument between the two men that Charles allegedly made the comment, with Spencer writing: “‘Rest assured,’” he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’” Spencer wrote that he was stunned and took a few seconds to reply, writing: “‘I can’t believe you just said that,’ I said flatly, before hanging up.” Spencer also claimed that Diana “never would have wanted” her sons to walk behind her coffin, to which Charles allegedly replied: “That’s the problem with your family. They’ve got no bloody sense of duty.” Swan Song is due to be published globally next Tuesday – in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph, a division of Penguin Random House. Four copies of the Dutch-language edition were reportedly taken from a truck while it was en route from the Dutch publisher’s printers to their warehouse in the Netherlands. Diana, who died aged 36 after a car crash in Paris in 1997, would have turned 65 on 1 July this year. Buckingham Palace did not issue a statement responding to the BBC interview, but on Wednesday a spokesperson 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.”         Explore more on these topics (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/monarchy) Monarchy  (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/diana) Diana, Princess of Wales  (https://www.theguardian.com/uk/prince-charles) King Charles III  (https://www.theguardian.com/tone/news) news    (mailto:?subject=Earl Spencer doubles down on claims about ‘monstrous’ call with Charles after Diana’s death&body=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/18/earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death?CMP=share_btn_url) Share     (https://syndication.theguardian.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2026%2Fsep%2F18%2Fearl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death&type=article&internalpagecode=uk-news/2026/sep/18/earl-spencer-doubles-down-on-claims-about-monstrous-call-with-king-charles-after-dianas-death) (Reuse this content) Reuse this content                  More on this story                        More on this story                       (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/17/charles-giddily-elated-dianas-death-earl-spencer-book)    ()      Charles sounded ‘giddily elated’ after Diana’s death, claims Earl Spencer    (Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 02:47 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 1d ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/17/charles-earl-spencer-diana-royal-statements)    ()      Charles’s rebuttal of Earl Spencer’s claim about Diana offers rare glimpse into palace thinking   (Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 10:47 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 1d ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/sep/16/earl-spencer-memoir-prince-charles-diana-death-claims)    ()      Earl Spencer’s memoir claims Prince Charles said of Diana: ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’   (Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 04:19 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 2d ago           (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/sep/05/prince-william-to-represent-king-charles-at-funeral-of-norways-king-harald-v)    ()      Prince William to represent King Charles at funeral of Norway’s King Harald V   (Saturday, September 5, 2026 at 06:11 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 5 Sept 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/05/calls-for-public-inquiry-all-royal-finances-andrew-subletting-royal-lodge-properties)    ()      Calls for inquiry into all royal finances after Andrew subletting revelations   (Friday, June 5, 2026 at 01:22 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 5 Jun 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/jun/05/national-audit-office-report-royals-property-affairs-king-charles-andrew)    ()      What National Audit Office report reveals about royals’ property affairs   (Friday, June 5, 2026 at 09:08 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 5 Jun 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/apr/10/prince-harry-sued-defamation-charity-sentebale)    ()      Prince Harry sued for defamation by charity he co-founded   (Friday, April 10, 2026 at 01:41 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 10 Apr 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/news/2026/mar/08/princess-eugenie-daughter-of-prince-andrew-steps-down-as-patron-of-anti-slavery-charity)    ()      Princess Eugenie steps down as patron of anti-slavery charity   (Sunday, March 8, 2026 at 06:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time) 8 Mar 2026           (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/31/andrew-royal-behaviour-analysis)    ()      Stupidity and royal self-entitlement sank Andrew, and it may not be over yet   (Friday, October 31, 2025 at 12:18 PM Eastern Daylight Time) 31 Oct 2025           (https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/oct/31/property-sandringham-estate-fit-for-former-prince-andrew-mountbatten-windsor)    ()      Which property on the Sandringham estate is fit for a former prince?   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