Sept. 21, 2026

What Are the Biggest Claims in Earl Spencer's New Diana Memoir? King Charles, Princes

Show Notes
Transcript

What are the biggest claims in Earl Spencer's new memoir about Princess Diana? Here's what you need to know about Earl Spencer's allegations involving King Charles, Princess Diana's funeral, William and Harry walking behind their mother's coffin, the reported offer to restore Diana's HRH title after her death, Diana's marriage and final years, Buckingham Palace's rare response to the book, and which claims are based on Spencer's firsthand recollections versus his later interpretations.

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

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Mark Francis. Swan Song, Diana, My Sister, Earl Spencer's memoir

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about the late Princess of Wales, will be published tomorrow.

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Extracts appearing in the Daily Mail have already prompted a

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rare response from Buckingham Palace, with Spencer making allegations about

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Charles' behaviour before his marriage after Diana's death, and during

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preparations for her funeral. The book is presented as a

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brother's tribute to his sister, but the passages released so

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far also contain an account of her relationship with the

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royal family that Charles' representatives have publicly challenged. A palace

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spokesperson said, While we do not comment on books as

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a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the

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pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and

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colour memory in ways others do not recognize, even many

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years after such a loss. That response stops short of

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answering each allegation. It questions Spencer's recollection of events nearly

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30 years after Diana's death. One of the most detailed

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passages concerns the decision that William and Harry should walk

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behind their mother's coffin. The boys were 15 and 12.

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Spencer says he opposed their involvement because he believed Diana

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would not have wanted it. He recalls receiving a call

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from Charles after raising that objection. A few minutes later,

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my direct line rang again. It was Prince Charles sounding

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markedly less upbeat than when we had last spoken on

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the morning of Diana's death. According to Spencer, Charles opened with,

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I gather you've got a problem with the funeral arrangements.

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Spencer says he initially thought Charles meant the service itself. No,

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I don't think so, he replied. Charles then allegedly clarified,

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But I gather you've said you don't want William and

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Harry to walk behind Diana's coffin. Well, of course not, sir.

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Diana would never have wanted that. Spencer writes that Charles

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drew a comparison with his own participation in Lord Mountbatten's funeral.

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But I did it at Lord Mountbatten's funeral, the oath

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says he answered. But you were 30, sir, and he

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wasn't your mother. That, according to Spencer, triggered an angry response.

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He went nuts. That's the problem with your family. They've

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got no bloody sense of duty, he started before descending

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into a general rage. Both princes ultimately walked in the

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procession alongside Charles, Prince Philip and their uncle. The photographs

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became some of the defining images of the funeral. The

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book also attributes another remark to Charles during the aftermath

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of Diana's death. We'll forget her soon enough. That allegation

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has featured prominently in coverage of the memoir. It remains

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Spencer's account of what was said and the palace has

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not supplied its own detailed version of the exchange. Spencer

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also describes an earlier telephone call on the morning he

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learned that his sister had died following the car crash

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in Paris. Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely

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able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he

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sounded giddily elated, like a lottery winner. I remember thinking

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that at the time. He writes that Charles explained how

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he had broken the news to the children. He let

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me know he had informed William and Harry of their

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mother's death first thing that morning in their bedrooms at Balmoral.

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It all sounded strangely... matter of fact given the enormity

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of the disaster. Spencer then offers his present-day interpretation of

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that conversation. Looking back now, I suspect the prince's first

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reaction must have been to think more of how this

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event might free him to marry the woman he loved,

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rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.

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Another passage describes an unexpected approach on the day of

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Diana's funeral. Spencer says Robert Fellows, the Queen's private secretary,

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beckoned him into a quiet corner of a carriage hours

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after his eulogy at Westminster Abbey. I have just received

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a call from Her Majesty and she would like to

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offer Diana her HRH title back, Spencer recalls Fellows saying.

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Diana had lost the style of Her Royal Highness when

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her divorce from Charles was finalised. Spencer says the loss

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had left her dreadfully hurt. He describes that decision as

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petty and vindictive, but calls the Queen's reported offer to

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reverse it well-meaning. Even so, he says accepting it after

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Diana's death felt wrong. I felt that I knew in

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my bones how she would view this posthumous award. His response,

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as he recalls it, was direct. That's very kind of

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the Queen, of course, but what's the point, Robert? Now,

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I mean, Diana's dead. Spencer describes the offer as a

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consolation award. He acknowledges subsequently wondering whether he had made

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the right decision in declining it, but writes that the

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title should never have been removed during her life, in

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which case it would not have been necessary to offer

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it in her death. The memoir also looks back to

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the wedding in July 1981. Spencer remembers visiting his sister

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at Clarence's house that day and finding her sitting quietly

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in front of a mirror. At the time, he says,

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he did not know what she had allegedly heard from

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Charles the previous day. Only much later would I discover that,

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as she confided to a close friend, her husband-to-be had

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told her the previous day that she needed to know

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that he was very happy to marry her, but he

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was not actually in love with her. The book also

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contains a sensitive claim about Diana's mental health in her

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later years. Spencer writes that she experienced suicidal thoughts on

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more than one occasion, and says her love for William

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and Harry helped her through those moments. Her love for

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her sons stopped her from going further, he writes. The

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published extract does not explain how Spencer learned of those experiences.

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It is an intimate claim about Diana's distress, and the

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available passage leaves questions about its sourcing unanswered. Across these extracts,

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Spencer moves between events he says he witnessed, conversations he remembers,

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things he learned later, and conclusions he has drawn over time.

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The full book may provide further context, but those different

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kinds of accounts should not be treated as interchangeable. The

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Palace has chosen to challenge the memoir publicly, while declining

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to argue through its details. In another passage from the

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Daily Mail's serialization, Spencer recalls his sister telling him she

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was considering divorce, He says the conversation made him realize

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how seriously the marriage had deteriorated. I was silent for

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a moment. I had known things were bad, but not

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this bad, he writes. Spencer recalls offering his support while

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warning Diana that the public might turn against her. Well, Dutch,

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I carefully replied, you of course have my full support.

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I know you'll have thought this through, but my main

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worry is the public. I fear they won't forgive you.

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They've bought into a fairy tale, and I reckon they

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may well wrongly blame you for destroying their fantasy. According

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to Spencer, Diana then gave an unexpected reply. She looked

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up at me, nodded, and said quietly, But Carlos, my husband,

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is in love with his valet. In the news.com.au, Daniela

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Olsa observes, Earl Spencer did not name the valet, which

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may have been a reference to Charles' long-term aide, Michael Fawcett.

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Mr Fawcett, for decades, was a key part of Charles' world.

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Mr Fawcett held the specimen bottle when Charles broke his

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arm and had to provide a urine sample. He would

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lay out Charles' favourite towel for him after his baths,

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and he squeezed his boss's toothpaste onto his brush. More

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palace in just a moment. Speaking to the Express, royal

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commentator Richard Fitzwilliam said, It is quite extraordinary that Earl

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Spencer would wait 29 years after his sister's tragic death

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to launch a brutal and unprovoked attack on the king.

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Claiming he made disparaging comments about Diana before her funeral,

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he said, It's these soundbites, people. Whether they remember her

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or are of a younger generation, remember and we'll forget

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her soon enough is very damaging. I am convinced Spencer

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arranged the launch of the biography to coincide with the

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Sussexes' surprise move to the UK. He also suggested Spencer's

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criticism of Charles may be connected to guilt about the

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Panorama interview. The hatred he clearly feels for the King

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may also well be a product of the Earl's guilty conscience.

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He never verified Martin Bashir's forged bank statements before he

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introduced him to his sister, which led to the Panorama interview.

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He also pointed to difficulties in the relationship between Diana

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and her brother, adding, during much of the 1990s, and

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according to many, at the time of her death, the

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Earl and Diana were estranged. In 1993, Spencer declined Diana's

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requests to use a property on the Althorpe estate, citing

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concerns about security and press intrusion. And there you have it.

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If you'd like to email us, our address is thepalaceintrigue

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at gmail.com. Please follow us on Spotify or Apple. I'm

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Mark Francis. My thanks to John McDermott. This is Palace Intrigue.

What Are the Biggest Claims in Earl Spencer's New Diana Memoir? King Charles, Princes

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