Earl Spencer defends claim King Charles said Diana would be forgotten

Earl Spencer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, has publicly defended his claim that King Charles said of his late ex-wife, rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough, in a phone call days after her 1997 death. Speaking in an interview with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg ahead of the publication of his memoir, Spencer said he was telling the truth and rejected suggestions that grief had distorted his memory. Buckingham Palace has pushed back on the allegation, stating that while it does 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. According to Spencer's account, the remark came during an argument over whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother's coffin in the funeral procession. He said the then Prince of Wales went ballistic and ranted about the Spencer family's sense of duty before making the comment, after which Spencer says he replied that he could not believe what he had heard and hung up.