King Charles Rebuts Claim He Said People Would Soon Forget Princess Diana
- The allegation surfaces in the upcoming book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister by Charles Spencer, Diana's younger brother, which is scheduled for release on September 22, 2026, according...
- According to Earl Spencer's account reported by Town & Country, the earl insisted that Diana would not have wanted her young sons to endure such a public ordeal.
- Buckingham Palace issued a direct rebuttal to the book's claims, breaking its usual policy regarding literary releases.
The allegation surfaces in the upcoming book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister by Charles Spencer, Diana’s younger brother, which is scheduled for release on September 22, 2026, according to reporting published by the Daily Mail and detailed by Town & Country. The dispute centers on a contentious phone conversation between the two men days after the princess’s death at age 36, focusing on the decision to have Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, walk in the public funeral procession behind their mother’s coffin.
Buckingham Palace Breaks Silence Over Memoir Claim
A Contentious Phone Call Days After the Crash
According to Earl Spencer’s account reported by Town & Country, the earl insisted that Diana would not have wanted her young sons to endure such a public ordeal. The author writes that the then-Prince of Wales questioned the Spencer family’s sense of duty before unleashing his frustration over the global outpouring of grief.
Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough!
Earl Spencer, as reported by Town & Country
The Palace Issues a Direct Rebuttal
Buckingham Palace issued a direct rebuttal to the book’s claims, breaking its usual policy regarding literary releases. In a statement reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, a palace spokesperson addressed the decades-old conversation.
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.
Buckingham Palace spokesperson
Decades of Debate Over the Funeral Procession
The historical debate over the funeral procession has involved multiple royal figures over the years. Princess Anne stated in a 2021 interview following the death of Prince Philip that the late Duke of Edinburgh was instrumental in the arrangement, reportedly asking the boys if they wanted him to walk alongside them, as reported by Town & Country. Prince William noted in a 2017 BBC documentary, Diana: 7 Days, that it was a collective family decision that was not easy to make. Conversely, Prince Harry expressed critical views in a 2017 interview, stating that no child should have been asked to participate in such a manner under those circumstances.
Revisiting the Tragic Aftermath of Paris
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister covers Diana’s life and the tumultuous aftermath of her death, which occurred when the car she shared with Dodi Fayed crashed while being pursued by paparazzi photographers in Paris. An official inquest subsequently attributed the fatal crash to the gross negligence of intoxicated driver Henri Paul and the pursuing paparazzi.