Spencer alleges Charles elated after Diana's death in memoir

Earl Spencer, the brother of Princess Diana, has alleged in his forthcoming memoir that King Charles reacted with elation to Diana's death in 1997. In excerpts from "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," scheduled for publication on September 22, 2026, Spencer claims that then-Prince Charles sounded "giddily elated like a lottery winner" during a phone call in the days following Diana's fatal car crash in Paris. Spencer also asserts that Charles told him, "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough," during a heated argument about whether Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, should walk behind their mother's coffin at the funeral. Buckingham Palace responded with a rare public statement, noting that while it does not comment on books as a matter of principle, King Charles 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." The Palace's intervention is described as unprecedented, marking a departure from its usual silence on such matters.