Sept. 22, 2026

Prince Harry’s Verdict on Earl Spencer’s Explosive Diana Memoir

Show Notes
Transcript

What does Prince Harry think of Earl Spencer’s new Princess Diana memoir, and how did Prince William and Diana’s sisters react? Charles Spencer says Harry is “completely fine” with Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, but admits Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes were hurt that he kept the book secret. He also addresses William’s privacy, his estrangement from King Charles, Diana’s funeral, Mohamed Al Fayed, conspiracy theories about her death and the claim that Charles had an unusually close relationship with his former aide Michael Fawcett.

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Palace Intrigue is a daily British royal family podcast covering King Charles, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry, Kate Middleton and the House of Windsor. New episodes every day. Follow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen. Part of the Caloroga Shark Media network.

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Hello and welcome to Palace Intrigue. I am your host,

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Mark Francis. Charles Spencer says Harry is completely fine with

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his book about Diana, but admits his two older sisters,

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Lady Sarah McCorkadale and Lady Jane Fellows, were hurt to

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discover he had written it without telling them. In a

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lengthy interview with People magazine, Spencer describes how he broke

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the news to William, Harry, Sarah and Jane at the

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same time, Until then, he says, only his wife and

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those involved in publishing knew what he was doing. I

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think they were hurt, but I hadn't told them, to

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be honest. I said, I was going to hurt you

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either way because I was either going to tell you

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and still write it how I wanted it. It wasn't

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going to be a committee effort. Spencer says he also

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wanted them to be able to distance themselves from any controversy.

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They are totally innocent parties in this. This is very

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much a brother's view. On his nephews, he was more

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forthcoming about Harry's reaction than William's I can say that

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Harry is completely fine about it. He said, I hope

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there's nothing embarrassing about him in it. I said, there isn't.

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Spencer said he reassured both brothers that the account largely

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ends with Diana's death and does not expose their private

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lives as adults. Asked whether he worried about their response

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to his portrayal of their father. However, he acknowledged that

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he did. Yeah, that was a concern. I mean, I

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don't want this to sound loaded, but there was an

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awful lot I could have put in and I didn't.

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His relationship with the king, he says, is now almost non-existent.

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I see him as an ex-brother-in-law, and I'm sure anyone

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who has had divorce in the family will understand that

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people who are closer in your life when the parties

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were married are less close. Away from that dispute, Spencer

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firmly rejects conspiracy theories about Diana's death. I've never believed

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in the conspiracy theory because if somebody was conspiring to

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kill somebody very high profile like that, I don't think

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that would be the manner that it would happen in.

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By the way, if I thought otherwise, I would say so.

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I just don't see it. The interview also returns to

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a criticism that has followed Spencer for years, that he

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refused to provide Diana with a home at Althorp. Spencer

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says Diana wanted the garden house where their sister Jane

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had previously lived with her children, but he says police

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inspected the property with him and concluded that William and

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Harry could not be adequately protected there. She could not

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have lived at the garden house. It was not a

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viable option. He also revisits his account of the Queen

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offering to restore Diana's HRH title after her death, At

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the time, he says, he rejected the offer because it

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had come too late. Now, he sometimes wonders whether accepting

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might have meant something to her sons. I do sometimes think,

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should I have just said yes, because maybe it would

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have been nice for her sons. Spencer has widened his

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criticism to the care Harry received on the day of

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Diana's funeral. In an extract published by the Daily Mail,

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he wrote, My chief memory of that train journey is

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of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for

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Harry as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning,

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He needed Diana's hugs, of course, and they would forever

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be denied him. But instead of calm and nurture, he

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was allowed to spin out of control. Other passages offer

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Spencer's account of disagreements over the funeral arrangements. He claims

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Prince Philip overruled Charles about where the men should stand

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behind the coffin, placing Spencer in the middle with William

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and Harry on either side. He also claims the Queen

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initially responded to news of Diana's accident by asking, what

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is she up to now? Spencer specifies that this was

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before the seriousness of the crash became clear. He says

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she later offered to restore Diana's HRH title after her

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death and offer he declined. Spencer says Diana told him

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Mohamed Al-Fayed had groped her during the early weeks of

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her relationship with his son Dodi. The Express reports that

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Spencer recounts the alleged incident in his memoir writing, Diana

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told me with revulsion how early in her romance with Dodi,

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Mohamed had come up to her dropped a hand onto

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her buttocks and squeezed them while saying in a leery,

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suggestive tone, and in Egypt the father-in-law gets first go.

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Mohamed Al-Fayed later commissioned the statue of Diana and Dodi

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displayed at Harrods under the title Innocent Victims. Spencer also

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reveals that an earlier draft of his funeral tribute included

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a thank you to Dodi for making Diana happy in

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her last few weeks. He removed those words before delivering

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the speech. More palace in just a moment. The Spencer

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controversy has reached the comedy stage with Saturday Night Live

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UK imagining King Charles confronted by an artificial intelligence assistant

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modelled on Princess Diana. The sketch opened with Charles, played

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by Larry Dean, meeting technology executives to discuss the dangers

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of AI. Their answer was to unveil a creation called

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the Deeply Intelligent Autonomous Neurokinetic Android, or Diana. Jack Shep

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then appeared as Diana, complete with her familiar blonde hairstyle

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and black revenge dress. Hello, Charles, the character said. Would

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you like help with a five-step business plan, or perhaps

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I can help you find the nearest petrol station? The

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fictional king initially failed to recognize her before announcing, Hold

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on a second, is that woman from the 90s? Then

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came the direct reference to Spencer's disputed account of their

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conversation after Diana's death. As I allegedly said, she was

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soon forgotten. The joke quickly shifted from recognition to control.

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The AI Diana announced, I shan't be taking orders anymore.

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When the alarmed executives admitted that they had lost control

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of the Diana, Charles replied, that was the problem last time.

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In the news.com.au, Daniela Elsa gets right to it, writing,

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In a matter of eight words, writing in his new

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book about his tragic sister's swan song, the Earl has

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dusted off and reignited a decades-old rumour that King Charles

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had what amounts to a gay affair. Shall I give

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you a minute to just digest that? Diana, Princess of Wales,

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famously said, There were three of us in the marriage,

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but now her brother Earl Spencer has suggested there might

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have been four. In a matter of eight words, writing

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in his new book about his tragic sister, Swan Song,

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the Earl has dusted off and reignited a decades-old rumour

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that King Charles had what amounts to a gay affair.

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Speculation is the valet in the book refers to Charles'

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long-term aide, Michael Fawcett. Elsa shares, Mr. Fawcett for decades

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was a key part of Charles' world. Mr. Fawcett held

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the specimen bottle when Charles broke his arm and had

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to provide a urine sample. He would lay out Charles'

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favorite towel for him after his baths, and he squeezed

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his boss's toothpaste onto his brush. I can manage without

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just about anyone except for Michael, Charles reported to have said. However,

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the question of whether their relationship might have been of

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a more personal nature has haunted Charles for years. During

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their marriage, the princess had begun to feel that Fawcett

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had an unnatural hold over her husband, becoming increasingly concerned

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about the intimacy of their relationship. Andrew Morton writes in

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Diana in Pursuit of Love, Diana couldn't work out what

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this relationship was between Michael Fawcett and her husband. Ken Wharf,

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Diana's former bodyguard, told Morton, She thought it was unhealthy.

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I think she firmly believed that. It also continues dusting

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off that. In 2002, George Smith, a former assistant valet,

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told the Mail on Sunday that he had witnessed a

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sexual incident involving Charles and a servant the piece did

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not name, Mr. Fawcett. Mr. Fawcett had sought an injunction

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against the story prior to its publication. Before he was named,

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he denied the allegation and described Mr. Smith as an

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unreliable alcoholic. The Guardian later went to court to reveal

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that it was Mr. Fawcett who had sought the injunction.

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Piers Morgan is challenging Charles Spencer's insistence that his criticism

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of the King has nothing to do with revenge. Speaking

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to Mark Phillips on CBS Sunday Morning, Spencer said, I

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don't hold resentments. I'm not a vengeful, resentful person. I'm

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just an eyewitness to history. Morgan's response was blunt. Writing

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on social media, he said, he says, having waited 30

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years to launch a vengeful, resentful attack on King Charles.

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Friends of the King are also questioning Spencer's motives. One

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particularly sharp response reportedly compared Spencer to an arsonist trying

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to sell you a fire hose before asking, why couldn't

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they all have just let her rest in peace? That

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would have been the decent thing to have done. Another

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unnamed aide suggested resentment of Charles and Camilla's position might

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have been driving the criticism. If I were to hazard

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a guess, I'd say it's more than that. Contrary to

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some public expectations and perhaps a few private hopes, the

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King and Queen have proved rather adept and popular in

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their new roles. Spencer, meanwhile, told the BBC, it's not

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every day you wake up to find you've been gaslit

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by the King. And there you have it. If you'd

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like to email us or address us at thepalaceintrigue at gmail.com.

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Get the show commercial free for five bucks a month.

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We appreciate your support. I'm Mark Francis. My thanks to

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John McDermott. This is Palace Entry. Good times.

Prince Harry’s Verdict on Earl Spencer’s Explosive Diana Memoir

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