Archive · 17 Sep 2026
Palace Challenges Spencer's Claim About Charles's Diana Remark
Charles Spencer was Princess Diana’s brother.
He is writing a memoir about Diana and what happened after she died.
Spencer says that, during a phone call in 1997, then-Prince Charles became angry while they discussed Diana’s funeral.
Spencer claims Charles said people would forget Diana soon enough.
Spencer says he was shocked and ended the call.
The argument also involved whether Diana’s sons, William and Harry, should walk behind her coffin.
Buckingham Palace does not confirm Spencer’s version of the conversation.
Instead, it says grief can affect people’s judgment and memories, even many years later.
The memoir is scheduled to be published on September 22.
Charles Spencer alleges that then-Prince Charles said Diana would be forgotten soon after her death.
The alleged remark came during a heated 1997 dispute over William and Harry walking behind Diana’s coffin.
Spencer says Charles expressed anger about Diana’s public reaction and called the remark a shock.
Buckingham Palace questioned whether grief and decades of emotion affected Spencer’s memory and judgment.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is due on September 22; four copies were reportedly stolen in the Netherlands.
- Who
- Charles Spencer, then-Prince Charles, Princess Diana, Princes William and Harry, and Buckingham Palace are central to the dispute.
- What
- Spencer alleges that Charles said Diana would soon be forgotten during an argument about her funeral procession.
- When
- The alleged phone call took place in the days after Diana’s death on August 31, 1997; the memoir is due on September 22.
- Where
- The alleged conversation concerned Diana’s funeral procession; Diana died in a car crash in Paris, and copies of the memoir were reportedly stolen in the Netherlands.
- Why
- Spencer says the memoir aims to tell Diana’s story from his perspective and correct what he considers accepted untruths, while the Palace questions the reliability of memories shaped by grief.
Spencer’s Account
Buckingham Palace’s Response
What Charles allegedly said
Spencer’s Account
Spencer says Charles told him, "Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough," after expressing anger about the public reaction to Diana’s death.
Buckingham Palace’s Response
The Palace does not directly address whether the words were spoken, but questions the reliability of Spencer’s recollection many years later.
The funeral procession
Spencer’s Account
Spencer says he objected to William and Harry walking behind Diana’s coffin because they were young and would face intense public scrutiny.
Buckingham Palace’s Response
Charles reportedly defended the decision by referring to his own experience of walking in a funeral procession for Lord Mountbatten.
Purpose and significance of the memoir
Spencer’s Account
Spencer presents the book as an effort to tell Diana’s story from her brother’s perspective and correct what he sees as enduring narrative errors.
Buckingham Palace’s Response
The Palace’s statement warns that grief can affect reason, judgment, and memory, implicitly challenging the account’s accuracy without directly calling Spencer dishonest.
- Memoir
- Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
- Author
- Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer and Diana’s brother
- Publication date
- September 22
- Alleged remark
- "Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough"
- Diana’s death
- August 31, 1997, in a fatal car crash in Paris
- Funeral dispute
- Whether William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, should walk behind their mother’s coffin
- Palace response
- The Palace said grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and color or distort memory
- Pre-release theft
- Four copies were reportedly stolen from a delivery truck in the Netherlands
