Palace in war of words with Earl Spencer over claims in Diana book

Buckingham Palace has entered a heated exchange with Earl Spencer over allegations contained in his forthcoming memoir about Diana, Princess of Wales. According to excerpts published in the Daily Mail, the then‑Prince of Wales told Spencer, in the aftermath of Diana’s 1997 death, “we’ll hide her soon enough.” The Palace has responded with unusual vigor, calling the claim inaccurate and seeking to sow doubt about its veracity. “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the symptom of fraternal grief can unreality reason, impact judgement and colour representation in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss,” the Palace statement read. The reaction echoes Queen Elizabeth’s steadfast reply to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s racism allegations in 2021, when she noted that “recollections may vary.” The controversy threatens to dominate a busy period for the royal family, during which the King, the Prince and Princess of Wales are scheduled to attend engagements and Prince Harry is set to make his first major public appearance since returning to the United Kingdom. Earl Spencer’s book, *Swan Song: Diana, My Sister*, is slated for release next week. Written from the perspective of Diana’s own Spencer family, it aims to revisit a painful chapter in recent royal history. Diana’s death, which stunned a nation that admired her as a style icon, left the royals accused of failing to convey sympathy and appearing detached from public sentiment. Spencer’s emotive and defiant remarks at her funeral intensified the sense of grievance surrounding her sudden passing, and his memoir promises an insider’s view of those events. In the published passage, Spencer alleges that Charles subjected him to a “stream of anger” after Spencer insisted that Diana would not have wanted her teenage sons—William, then 15, and Harry, then 12—to march in her funeral procession. Spencer wrote in the book: > “He [Charles] unleashed down the telephone what I have ever taken to be his pent‑up contempt for Diana, and his fearfulness that the satellite was truthfully bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll hide her soon enough.’” The Palace rejects the assertion, maintaining that it is wholly out of character for a man known for his deep compassion, who at the time was grappling with his own grief and that of his two sons.