Earl Spencer Teases ‘Jaw-Dropping’ Charles Secrets as Diana’s Tapes Return

0:03 Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host, Mark Francis. Charles Spencer says a book devoted to what he knows about the king would be a jaw-dropper, but insists that is not what he has set out to write. Speaking to People magazine, Spencer suggested he had held back material while preparing his account of Diana's life. I mean, I don't want this to sound loaded, but there was an awful lot I could have put in and I didn't. If I wanted to write a scandalous book about Prince Charles or King Charles as he is now, it would really be a jaw-dropper, but I'm not here to do that. A resurfaced account from Alastair Campbell's diaries suggests that fears for Charles' safety were part of the discussions about William and Harry walking behind Diana's coffin. The diaries were published in 2011, but the Express has returned to them as Charles Spencer challenges the decisions made before the funeral. Campbell, who was Tony Blair's communications chief, recorded discussions involving Downing Street and royal officials in September 1997. His account describes concern about how the public might react to Charles appearing in the procession without his sons. According to the diary passages quoted by the Express, the Queen's Deputy Private Secretary, Sir Robert Janvern said, if William did not walk, then Charles couldn't for obvious and understandable reasons. Campbell also recorded concern that Charles would have to walk alongside Spencer, with no way he can do this without the boys. Another older claim about Charles Spencer is back in circulation that

1:35 he urged Harry to slow down before marrying Meghan after William asked him to intervene. The account comes from Tom Bower's 2022 book, Revenge, and has been revisited by OK! Magazine. Bower wrote, Harry had introduced Meghan to Diana's two sisters, Jane and Sarah, and her best friend, Julia Samuel. Harry assumed that Diana's family and friends would see a similarity between Diana and his fiancée. Those sisters are Harry's aunts, Lady Jane Fellows and Lady Sarah McCorkadale. According to Bower, their response disappointed Harry. He claims they did not share the comparison and had concerns about how Meghan would adapt to royal life. Their unease was voiced by Charles Spencer, Diana's brother. At William's request, Spencer weighed in, Bower wrote.

2:21 Three times married, Spencer cautioned his nephew to reconsider his haste towards marriage. His advice provoked a bitter reaction. The debate over Diana's life could return to her own voice with a new documentary drawing on hours of recordings made during her marriage to Charles. Radar Online reports that Diana Unheard, a three-part series from Love Monday TV, will feature conversations Diana recorded with her friend James Colthurst in 1991. Those recordings provided material for Andrew Morton's book Diana, Her True Story. Both men have worked with the documentary's producers and will appear in the series. For viewers, the attraction is hearing Diana speak for herself. The tone pauses an emphasis that cannot be captured fully on a printed page. Richard Life of Cineflix, which is distributing the program internationally, said, What really sets Diana Unheard apart is the unique opportunity to hear several hours of intimate recordings of the princess, her own story, in her own voice, at a pivotal point in her life. Love Monday TV's creative director, Corrine Barefield, said, In making Diana Unheard, we wanted to challenge the narrative that has too often portrayed Diana, Princess of Wales, simply as a victim of her circumstances. This is Diana, not as a passive victim of events, but as a woman taking control of her own narrative and risking everything to make her voice heard. Barefield added, Diana Unheard restores authorship of one of the most scrutinized lives in modern history to the woman at its center. The timing adds another

3:52 complication for Buckingham Palace already dealing with Charles Spencer's allegations. An unnamed royal source quoted by Radar Online said, There is a sense that Charles cannot escape being pulled back into events from more than three decades ago. First, there are allegations from Diana's brother. Now there will be hours of Diana discussing her life and relationships in her own voice. These tapes come from an extraordinarily unhappy period in the marriage. They are Diana's perspective at that moment rather than a complete account of everything that happened. but that distinction can easily become lost when material this intimate is broadcast around the world. Diana Unheard does not yet have a broadcast date, so the next development will be where and when the series becomes available. Charles Moore argues the monarchy cannot spend forever fighting the battles of Charles and Diana's marriage. Writing in the Telegraph, Moore brings a personal recollection to the debate.

4:46 He was inside Westminster Abbey for Diana's funeral, listening as Spencer delivered his tribute. He admired its emotional power. He also agreed with Spencer's criticism of the press and says the two subsequently worked towards changes in the rules governing newspaper intrusion. But Moore believes the speech also created an unnecessary division between Diana's relatives and the royal household. His argument is that Charles, the Queen, and two boys were grieving too. Presenting one side of the family as Diana's protectors left little room to acknowledge the suffering on the other. Moore recalls later asking Spencer... why he had not acknowledged the Queen's televised tribute to Diana. According to Moore, Spencer replied, Oh, I wrote my speech on Wednesday, and she hadn't said anything by then. For Moore, that answer suggested a missed opportunity.

5:32 The Queen had appealed for unity, but Spencer had delivered the speech as originally written. His conclusion is direct. It is time to close the book of 20th century disharmony and get on with the 21st century in which we live, under the monarchy from which we benefit. More Palace in just a moment. Meghan Markle is reportedly finding it difficult to switch off from work following her return to Britain. An unnamed source told Heatwild, she still has so much going on with her brand. This is a crucial time when it comes to getting funding, so there is a lot of pressure. Even though she's physically in the countryside, she's told friends that her focus is in 10 different directions.

6:12 As a founder, that's par for the course. But adding the time difference in just makes it all more stressful. She's putting on a positive face and genuinely trying to make it work, but she's very far from living an ordinary life. Megan's mother, Doria Ragland, was reportedly concerned about the move. Doria told Megan to think very carefully before moving back, another anonymous source claimed. She watched what Britain did to her daughter the first time. She saw the pressure, the criticism, and the toll it took. She's terrified history will repeat itself. For the OBC, Shalaf Fogarty writes of Harry... I do wonder whether, beneath all of this, there is still a wish to have a more central role. Who wants to be second billing in their own life? Nobody.

6:54 I understand that. But the monarchy cannot work like that. It cannot rotate around every member of the family. It rotates around one monarch, and everyone else has to find their place in relation to that. William appears to have made peace with his role. He knows he is not the king yet, and that he has things to do, responsibilities to carry, and compromises to make in the meantime. That is the nature of being a senior royal. Harry and Meghan have never seemed entirely reconciled to that reality. They wanted independence, privacy and the freedom to make their own decisions, but they also appeared to want some of the visibility, status and protection that came with being central figures in the royal family. You cannot necessarily have both. Look at Zara Tyndall. She is the king's niece and she has built a life and a career outside the working monarchy. She has her own interests, her own public profile and her own professional commitments. She is not trying to be a working royal, but she is still part of that family. That does not mean there are no questions about security. It is perfectly reasonable to ask whether adult children of senior royals should receive some protection, particularly when they are in Britain and attending public events. But those questions should be considered calmly, rather than turned into another public confrontation. And there you have it. If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalacentry at gmail.com.

8:07 If you're on Spotify, leave us a comment. If you're on Apple, hit that button up there that says listen uninterrupted and get the show commercial free for just five bucks a month. We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue. Good times.