Buckingham Palace: King Charles Faces Fresh Allegation Over Princess Diana's Death
- Earl Spencer's upcoming memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister recounts a tense phone call with King Charles in the days after Princess Diana's 1997 death
- Spencer alleges the King made a startling remark during a dispute over whether William and Harry should walk behind their mother's coffin
- Buckingham Palace responded with a carefully worded statement about grief affecting memory, rather than directly denying the allegation
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Earl Charles Spencer has made explosive claims about a heated exchange with King Charles III in the immediate aftermath of Princess Diana's death, alleging the then Prince of Wales uttered words that have now reignited public debate about the Royal Family's response to the 1997 Paris car crash.
The allegations appear in Spencer's forthcoming memoir, *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister*, due for official release on September 22, 2026.
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In the book, he recounts a phone call with King Charles during which a disagreement over the funeral arrangements grew deeply personal.
Spencer's objection to the coffin procession
At the heart of the dispute was whether Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, should walk behind their mother's coffin during the funeral.
Spencer writes that he argued firmly against it, believing Diana would never have wanted her young sons subjected to such a raw and public display of grief.
He claims the conversation turned acrimonious, and that during the exchange, King Charles said: "We'll forget her soon enough."
The remark, if accurate, cuts sharply against the image of mourning the Royal Family projected publicly at the time, and Spencer's willingness to put it on record in print marks one of the most direct challenges to the Palace's account of those painful days.
Buckingham Palace's measured response
Rather than flatly denying that the exchange took place, Buckingham Palace issued a statement that addressed the emotional complexity of profound loss.
A Palace spokesperson acknowledged that King Charles understood how the anguish of losing a sibling could "cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory" even many years after the event.
The wording was deliberate, stopping short of a direct rebuttal while gently casting doubt on the reliability of Spencer's recollections.
Memoir hit by pre-release security breach
The book's publication has already been touched by controversy before it even reaches shelves.
Reports emerged that physical copies of the Dutch-language translation were stolen from a transport vehicle in the Netherlands, raising concerns about controlled leaks ahead of the official launch date.
*Swan Song: Diana, My Sister* is expected to draw significant attention given the enduring public fascination with Diana's life and legacy, and Spencer's account of those fraught days in 1997 will likely intensify scrutiny of the Royal Family's private conduct during one of its most turbulent periods.
King Charles III knights Idris Elba
Earlier, YEN.com.gh reported that renowned Hollywood actor Idris Elba had been officially knighted by King Charles III during an investiture ceremony at Windsor Castle.
The 75-year-old British monarch had honoured the movie star for his extensive services to young people and his impactful anti-knife crime campaigns.
The actor had been accompanied to the royal event by his wife, Sabrina Elba, where he knelt before the King and rose with his new title.
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Source: YEN.com.gh
