Palace hits back over claim King Charles said Princess Diana would be forgotten

Buckingham Palace has questioned Earl Charles Spencer’s recollection of events after Princess Diana’s death, following his allegation that King Charles said “we’ll forget her soon enough”.

Responding to the claim by Diana’s brother, a palace spokesperson said the pain of losing a sibling could cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory, even years later.

Spencer made the allegation in his forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, recounting a dispute with the then-Prince of Wales over plans for Prince William and Prince Harry to walk behind their mother’s coffin.

“While we do 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,” the spokesperson said.

The statement did not explicitly deny that Charles made the alleged remark.

In an extract published by the Daily Mail, Spencer said a senior palace aide informed him that William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, would join the funeral procession.
He said he opposed the plan because Diana would not have wanted her sons put through the experience.

According to Spencer, Charles telephoned him shortly afterwards and subjected him to a “stream of anger”.

“He unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death,” Spencer wrote.

“‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’.”

The memoir is due for publication next week. BBC News said it had not seen the full book.

Princess Diana’s death in a car crash in 1997 triggered widespread mourning, with the Royal Family facing criticism over its response to the public’s grief. Spencer delivered an emotional and defiant speech at her funeral.

Harry has previously said walking behind his mother’s coffin at 12 was something no child “should be asked to do”.

In a 2017 BBC interview, however, he said he did not “have an opinion whether that was right or wrong”, adding that, looking back, he was glad to have been part of the day.

Meanwhile, four copies of the Dutch-language edition of Spencer’s memoir were stolen from a truck in the Netherlands ahead of publication, according to the BBC.
The books were being transported from the Dutch publisher’s printers to its warehouse.