Charles Spencer has written before about the days following Princess Diana’s death. His new memoir includes an account of a private conversation with the then-Prince Charles that Buckingham Palace is now publicly challenging.
In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Spencer recalls a heated telephone call in the days before Diana’s September 1997 funeral. According to an advance extract covered by PEOPLE, Spencer claims Charles told him, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
The argument centered on whether Prince William and Prince Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin. William was 15 and Harry was 12, and Spencer says he strongly opposed putting the boys in the public procession while they were grieving.
Buckingham Palace responded after the excerpt was published. A Palace spokesperson said the King is mindful that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory,” directly disputing Spencer’s recollection nearly three decades later.
Spencer Says the Argument Began Over William and Harry
Spencer writes that a senior royal aide told him William and Harry were expected to join the funeral procession. He objected, particularly to Harry’s participation, because he believed Diana would not have wanted her sons placed in that position so soon after her death.
The disagreement eventually reached Charles directly. Spencer says their telephone conversation became increasingly tense before Charles made the remark he now attributes to him. Spencer recalls being stunned, telling Charles he could not believe what he had said and ending the call.
William and Harry ultimately walked behind Diana’s coffin on September 6, 1997, alongside their father, Prince Philip and Spencer as the procession made its way to Westminster Abbey.
The brothers have discussed the decision in the years since. William said in the 2017 BBC documentary Diana, 7 Days that it had been a collective family decision, while Harry wrote in his memoir Spare that several adults had objected and specifically recalled his uncle arguing that the boys should not be made to participate.
Spencer had also spoken publicly about his objections years before writing Swan Song. In 2017, he said he had tried to stop the boys from walking and described the procession as the most harrowing part of Diana’s funeral.
Buckingham Palace Challenges Spencer’s Account
Buckingham Palace responded on September 16 after excerpts from the memoir began circulating. A spokesperson told PEOPLE that the Palace does not normally comment on books before adding that grief can affect reason, judgment and memory even many years after a loss.
The statement did not offer the King’s own account of the telephone conversation. Spencer’s version therefore remains his recollection of a private exchange, while the Palace has publicly rejected the reliability of that memory.
The disagreement over William and Harry’s involvement in the funeral had already been documented long before the new memoir. Spencer’s latest account adds the claimed conversation with Charles and the remark he says ended their argument.
‘Swan Song’ Arrives Nearly 30 Years After Diana’s Death
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Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is scheduled for publication on September 22. Penguin Press lists the hardcover at 384 pages and describes the memoir as Diana’s life and death told from her brother’s perspective, beginning with their childhood and continuing through the week of her funeral.
Spencer has called it the most personal book he has written and said his goal was to tell the truth about Diana from his perspective. The publisher describes it as the first time he has written openly and at length specifically about his sister as the 30th anniversary of her death approaches.
The memoir drew attention even before publication when four copies of the Dutch edition were stolen from a delivery truck in the Netherlands while the driver was taking a mandatory rest break. Dutch publisher Overamstel said police are investigating, while the worldwide release remains scheduled for September 22.