Buckingham Palace Responds to Earl Spencer’s Claims Over King Charles and Princess Diana’s Funeral

Buckingham Palace has issued a formal response following explosive claims made by Earl Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, regarding a private dispute with King Charles III shortly after her death in 1997. The allegations, which feature in an upcoming memoir, have once again brought royal conduct during one of the monarchy's most difficult eras back into the public spotlight.

In an uncommon public intervention, royal officials addressed the newly disclosed claims by suggesting that profound personal bereavement can fundamentally alter an individual's recollection of past events. The Palace noted that although the household maintains a long-standing convention against commenting on biographical texts, the King acknowledged how deep personal loss can influence human memory over the course of decades.

A Palace spokesperson stated that His Majesty remains mindful of how the acute pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, impair judgment, and colour memories in ways that other witnesses do not recognise, even several decades after the tragedy took place.

The contentious disclosures originate from Earl Spencer’s forthcoming book, titled *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister*, which is scheduled for publication next week. An early extract from the memoir was published by the Daily Mail, detailing bitter disagreements that allegedly occurred behind closed doors during the preparations for Diana's funeral.

Central to the Earl’s narrative is a sharp confrontation regarding the royal funeral cortege. Earl Spencer claims that a senior Palace aide informed him that Prince William, who was 15 at the time, and Prince Harry, who was 12, would walk alongside their mother's coffin during the public procession, a plan to which Spencer voiced immediate and strong objections.

Earl Spencer maintains that he strongly resisted the arrangement on the grounds that his late sister would never have wanted her young sons to endure such an ordeal before the eyes of the world. His refusal to endorse the decision reportedly triggered an immediate and heated intervention from the boys' father, the then-Prince of Wales.

According to the published excerpt, the Earl claims he received a phone call from Charles shortly after raising his objections. Spencer writes that the future monarch subjected him to a sustained stream of anger, which Spencer perceived as an outburst of long-harboured contempt toward Diana and an expression of shock at the overwhelming scale of public sorrow following her death.

In the memoir, Spencer alleges that Charles spoke with intense hostility during the phone exchange, claiming the then-Prince hissed that he should rest assured because Diana would be forgotten soon enough.

The impending launch of *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister* is widely anticipated to reopen painful debates surrounding the Royal Family's past conduct. The memoir is expected to present a highly critical evaluation of the royal household, though the full text has not yet been made available for complete review by news organisations, including the BBC.

The allegations revisit the tense and emotionally volatile atmosphere of late summer 1997 following Diana’s fatal car crash in Paris. In the immediate days following the incident, the Royal Family encountered widespread public criticism, with many accusing the institution of being emotionally detached, lacking empathy, and out of touch with the immense public mourning.

Earl Spencer’s own actions during that period further amplified the public grievances surrounding his sister's sudden death. During the funeral service at Westminster Abbey, Spencer delivered an emotional and defiant eulogy that openly challenged the royal establishment and pledged to protect the young princes from the pressures that had affected Diana.

The decision to have William and Harry participate in the funeral walk has remained a sensitive subject of public reflection in the decades since. Prince Harry has previously commented on the experience, stating on a past occasion that walking behind his mother’s coffin at the age of 12 was a burden that no young child should ever be asked to undertake.

At the same time, Prince Harry has shared an evolving perspective on his participation in the funeral proceedings. In a 2017 interview with the BBC, he stated that while he held no definitive opinion on whether the decision was ultimately right or wrong, looking back on the event in adulthood, he was glad to have been a part of that day.

The release of the controversial book has also been marked by security issues in mainland Europe ahead of its scheduled arrival in bookstores. Earlier this week, it was revealed that advance copies of the unreleased volume had been stolen during transit in the Netherlands.

According to reports, four copies of the Dutch-language edition of the memoir were taken from a transport truck travelling from the printer to the publisher’s storage warehouse. Despite the incident, preparations for the book's wider global release continue, setting the stage for renewed examination of the historical events surrounding Diana's passing.