Earl Spencer insists he’s ‘telling the truth’ about Charles claims
Earl Spencer has been accused of joining forces with Prince Harry in a bid to “damage” the King with his explosive new book about Princess Diana. The late Princess of Wales’s brother is said to have forged an alliance with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as his incendiary memoir ignites a bitter new royal war.
In an interview with GB News, royal author Tom Bower said: “[Earl Spencer] is not only selling a book, but he’s also undoubtedly formed an alliance with Harry and with the Duchess to somehow damage the King.” On Friday evening, Charles Spencer defended himself following the furore, insisting that “he’s telling the truth”. He sparked controversy this week after he claimed in the book that the King, then Prince of Wales, told him, “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough,” following his sister’s death in 1997.
Charles Spencer released a series of allegations about the royals (Image: Getty)
In his first comment since, Earl Spencer stood firmly by his account, insisting: “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Friday evening, Diana’s brother branded the King’s alleged remark “monstrous” and doubled down on his version of events.
He recalled: “(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 gonna pull himself together and say something more appropriate’, and then he said, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’.”
Earl Spencer added: “I really was so stunned, and I just, after a stunned silence, I said, ‘I cannot believe you just said that’, and I hung up on him.”
Regarding any “evidence” about the bombshell comments, the earl said: “I told friends and family straight away, close friends and family, about what had been said, because it was so monstrous. I’m telling the truth.”
Earl Spencer is releasing a book (Image: BBC)
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister saw parts of it being serialised this week, featuring a fresh string of bombshell allegations about the royals and reopening old wounds over the aftermath of Diana’s death.
Prince Harry and Prince William’s mother died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.
Royal commentator Mr Bower fiercely rejected Spencer’s account of the King’s reaction to Diana’s death, dismissing claims that Charles sounded “giddily elated” as “complete rubbish”.
He said: “When I wrote my book about Charles, Rebel Prince, I had impeccable sources in Balmoral and all sorts of things, and I called some of them today, and all of them united in saying that Charles was in real grief.
“The idea that he would even say ‘rest assured’ that bit – but the idea was giddily elated, is complete rubbish. The man was absolutely smitten. He was horrified. He was frozen.
“So I think it’s rather sad that Charles Spencer, who I had great regard for as a historian, should be doing this. But then Prince Harry did the same with his biography. I think it’s money troubles, personal troubles.”
Prince Harry is understood to have been aware of the book (Image: Getty)
It is understood that Prince Harry was aware of the book before its release but not of its contents. He reportedly discussed it with his uncle at Althorp, the Spencer family’s 13,000-acre Northamptonshire estate, in July.
The publication comes weeks after the Sussexes returned to Britain following six years in California, with Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, now enrolled in British schools.
The author further noted that Charles Spencer’s book is published by the same publisher as Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare – Penguin Books.
He said: “They want headlines, which they’ve got. But I think it’s more serious than that. The return of Harry and Meghan is heading towards a crisis. They haven’t declared why they’re here. They haven’t declared what they’re how long they’ll stay.
“Their object is not only to ingratiate themselves with the Royal Family, but to cause trouble. And there’s no doubt that Harry knew that Spencer was going to bring out this book. It was a pincer movement.”
Veteran royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams echoed the sentiment, saying it was all “planned”.
He told the Daily Express: “I believe what was planned was a pincer movement to blindside the Royal Family.
“It’s all been planned. The biography shows the King, when Prince Charles, in the worst possible light.
“It is essential that the Palace let this disreputable tract masquerading as a biography have a few more days of sensation, and say nothing, however horrible its contents.”
Among further revelations, Spencer claimed that “in her later years” Diana drove to Beachy Head in East Sussex, intending to end her life, but stopped because of her love for her sons.
The earl also alleged that the late Queen Elizabeth II considered restoring his sister’s Her Royal Highness title, which she lost when she divorced Charles and blasted the “lack of care” towards Harry during Diana’s funeral in his latest allegations against the royals.
Buckingham Palace delivered a pointed response to the memoir on Wednesday.
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.” No further response to the allegations has been released.
Elsewhere in the BBC interview, the earl said: “I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life.
“I was hyper alert to what he was saying and those are precisely the words that he said and I promise that to you now.’
He suggested Buckingham Palace has not denied that the King told him “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough”, telling Ms Kuenssberg: “They haven’t actually (denied the claims), Laura, they’ve sort of smudged that one, haven’t they? They’ve said recollections may vary.”
Diana’s brother even questioned whether His Majesty is feeling “embarrassed” or “furious”.
A spokesperson for Prince Harry was contacted for comment.
Charles Spencer’s new bombshell book is out next week.
