Buckingham Palace has issued an unusually strong response on behalf of King Charles III to explosive claims in a forthcoming memoir by Charles Spencer, brother of the late Princess Diana, reigniting questions about the events surrounding her death and the tensions within the royal family.
The book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is due to be published next Tuesday, September 22, 2026 and revisits Diana’s troubled marriage, her personal struggles and the emotional aftermath of her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.
A disputed conversation
In excerpts from the memoir, Spencer recalls a tense phone conversation with the then-Prince of Wales(King Charles III) over whether Princes William and Harry, who were 15 and 12 at the time, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during her funeral.
Spencer says he opposed putting the boys through the public ordeal and claims the conversation with Charles became heated.
He writes that Charles “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 further claims Charles told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
He also alleges that Charles sounded “giddily elated like a lottery winner” during another conversation on the night Diana died, suggesting the reaction reflected a sense of freedom following their troubled marriage.
Palace breaks its silence
Buckingham Palace, which normally avoids commenting on books about the royal family, responded directly to the allegations.
“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 palace said.
The statement effectively challenges Spencer’s recollection while pointing to the possibility that decades of grief may have influenced his memories.
Diana’s private struggles
The memoir also examines Diana’s struggles during her marriage, including her eating disorder and difficulties with royal medical staff.
Spencer writes that Diana drove herself to Beachy Head, England’s highest chalk sea cliff, while contemplating suicide.
“It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all. Her love for her sons stopped her from going further,” he writes.
On the breakdown of Diana’s marriage, Spencer says he is documenting her feelings rather than judging who was responsible.
“I am not hypocritical enough to judge or criticise anyone else’s marital record. I am merely recording how my sister felt and am not assessing whether she was right or not,” he adds.
With the memoir’s release approaching, the dispute is likely to renew public interest in Diana’s life, death and enduring influence on the British monarchy.
