King Charles "scrambles to contain damage" after explosive Earl Spencer claims about Diana

18 September 2026 , 09:33

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King Charles is in "full damage control mode" after Buckingham Palace took the extraordinary step of publicly challenging Earl Spencer’s explosive claim that the monarch said Princess Diana would soon be "forgotten" after her death.

RadarOnline.com can reveal the 77-year-old monarch has become embroiled in a deeply personal dispute with Diana’s brother, 62, ahead of the publication of his memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.

Palace Challenges Claim About Princess Diana’s Funeral

In the book, Spencer alleges the then-Prince Charles made the remark that Diana would soon be forgotten during an angry telephone conversation over whether Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, should walk behind their mother’s coffin at her September 1997 funeral.

Buckingham Palace has now questioned Spencer’s recollection.

A royal source claimed: "The Palace is acutely aware of how damaging an allegation of this nature can be because Diana remains such an important figure to millions of people.

"There was a feeling that allowing such a serious claim to circulate completely unanswered would risk it becoming accepted as fact. The response reflects just how seriously this is being taken, and Charles is now in full damage control mode."

Spencer claims Charles telephoned after learning he opposed William and Harry joining Diana’s funeral procession.

’We’ll Forget Her Soon Enough!’

He writes: "Prince Charles continued his stream of anger without me interrupting. Then he stopped. I assumed the pause signaled an effort to bring himself under control.

"But then he 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. ’Rest assured,’ he hissed, ’we’ll forget her soon enough!’"

Spencer said he replied: "I can’t believe you just said that," before ending the call.

Buckingham Palace made the highly unusual decision to respond directly to the account.

A spokesman said: "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 color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss."

Another insider claimed: "This is not an intervention the Palace would make lightly. There is no desire to become involved in a prolonged public argument with Diana’s brother, but equally there was determination to challenge his version of such an intensely emotional conversation."

Diana was 36 when she died following a high-speed car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997, a year after her divorce from Charles.

Spencer’s memoir, due to be published on September 22, revisits Diana’s childhood, marriage, and death, as well as the traumatic preparations for her funeral.

Harry, now 42, has previously described the decision to have the boys walk behind their mother’s coffin as "barbaric" in Spare.

He wrote of the procession: "I remember feeling numb and clenching my fists. I remember keeping a little piece of Willy in the corner of my eye because it gave me strength."

William, now 44, reflected on the experience in 2017.

He said: "It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, that walk. It felt she (Diana) was almost walking along beside us to get us through it."

Spencer has said his upcoming memoir is intended to present Diana through his eyes.

He said: "The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective, just as I attempted to do when speaking at her funeral."

At Diana’s Westminster Abbey funeral, Spencer famously pledged that her "blood family" would help protect William and Harry, while declaring that his sister "needed no royal title to continue to generate her particular brand of magic."