Earl Spencer has accused King Charles of gaslighting him during a dramatic escalation of a furious row over Princess Diana, according to dailymail.com. The dispute follows the publication of extracts from the earl’s memoir, entitled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
.
Earl Spencer Accuses King Charles of Gaslighting
In the memoir, Earl Spencer made an incendiary claim that in the days after Diana’s 1997 death, the then Prince Charles told him: Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.
According to the lbc.co.uk report, the alleged comment was made during a blistering argument over whether Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, should walk in their mother’s funeral procession. Earl Spencer stated that Charles went ballistic
and criticized his family’s sense of duty before delivering the remark.
Palace Response and the Gaslighting Accusation
In response to the memoir’s claims, Buckingham Palace issued a statement saying: 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.
Reacting to the Palace’s response, Earl Spencer, 62, told dailymail.com: It is not every day you wake up to find you’ve been gaslit by the King.
He described the statement as astonishingly provocative and below the belt, arguing it was an attempt to imply he lied without the King directly denying his account. He also compared the statement to Queen Elizabeth’s famous recollections may vary
retort directed at Prince Harry and Meghan after their 2021 Oprah Winfrey interview, calling the Palace’s recent message a poor imitation.
Funeral Row and Memories of Prince Harry
The row between the King and Earl Spencer centers heavily on the arrangements surrounding Princess Diana’s 1997 funeral. Earl Spencer walked behind Diana’s coffin during the procession on September 6, 1997, alongside William, Harry, Charles, and the late Duke of Edinburgh.
Recounting a train journey from London to Althorp after the funeral, the earl expressed deep concern for Prince Harry, observing a lack of obvious care
for the 12-year-old prince as he decompressed from the morning. Earl Spencer stated that Harry was allowed to spin out of control
rather than receiving calm and nurture, adding that he thought his nephew looked tiny, slight, bereft, and too small to be doing this.
The Earl Defends His Motivation
Amid public discussion and media coverage detailed by The Guardian, Earl Spencer denied that financial motivation drove him to write the book. Insisting that he is telling the truth, the earl stated that he is a historian whose primary responsibility is truthfulness, and that his goal was to tell the truth about Diana through the eyes of the brother who grew up with her. He also maintained that his late sister would be cheering from the rafters
at the publication.