All we all know on Earl Spencer’s claims – from funeral rows to thriller threats
Set for release on Tuesday, Swan Song, is set to be a no holds barred memoir looking at Diana in life and death and has so far hit headlines for its criticism of King Charles. But what were his major claims in his first sit down TV interview?
Earl Spencer held the interview at the Althorpe estate(Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire)
Earl Spencer has made a series of serious claims as part of a bombshell book which has so far painted the Royals in a unfavourable light. Set for release on Tuesday, Swan Song, is set to be a no holds barred memoir looking at Diana in life and death and has so far hit headlines for its criticism of King Charles.
On Sunday night, a television interview was aired with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg ahead of the memoir’s release where he said he simply wanted to “put things down once and for all that were true.”
He said it was important to him to write down his memories, believing it was his “duty, as an eyewitness to history.”
The Earl’s book ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister’ will be released on Tuesday(Image: Penguin Random House/PA Wire)
Here are the take home points he made in the interview set to get tongues wagging – the Daily Star has reached out to Buckingham Palace for a comment on everything:
The Diana crash not being “serious”
Earl Spencer said he was in South Africa when he was told his sister had been in an accident, and initially it was not thought to be too bad.
Diana died in a car crash in Paris(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
He told the BBC he got a call in the middle of the night from his sister Lady Jane Fellowes, who said Princess Diana had been in a crash but “it’s not too serious”.
But then he “kept getting more and more distressing calls” from his sister.
Harry and William remain close to both of their late mother’s sisters(Image: Dominic Lipinski/POOL/AFP)
“And then my sister Jane said, ‘I’m afraid she’s died.’ It started… as a little prang, and then it became a broken leg, perhaps a head injury, and then death.”
“We’ll forget her soon enough”
One of the major talking points so far, Earl Spencer has claimed he had a royal row with the then Prince of Wales, Charles, on the phone as they disagreed about what the boys’ roles should be on the day of the funeral.
Prince Charles, father of the boys, believed they should walk behind her casket, while Earl Spencer disagreed, thinking it was “not what Diana would have wanted.”
Earl Spencer claims he did not think it right that the boys walked in the procession behind Diana’s coffin(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
He said Charles then called him on the phone to speak about the issue, as the former Prince of Wales compared to the situation to him walking behind Lord Mountbatten’s coffin. The earl says he said the situations were not comparable as he was 30 at that time, and it “was not his mother.”
The earl claimed Charles “went ballistic and started really going for my family as a whole about their sense of duty not being adequate enough”.
Earl Spencer claimed he had a row with the then Prince Charles about funeral arrangements(Image: PA)
He added that he “ranted for a while” while he just listened. He said Charles then said: “We’ll forget her soon enough.”
The earl said he was “stunned” and said: “I cannot believe you just said that,” before hanging up on Charles. This is the claim the palace have come back on.
In a strongly worded response, Buckingham Palace said the King was “mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss”.
When read out the Palace’s statement refuting the accusations against Charles, Earl Spencer said: “Those are exactly the words he said.”
He added: “I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life. I was hyper alert to what he was saying, and those were the exact words he said. And I promise to you that now.”
Threats that there is more to come
Talking about his motivations for writing the book, Earl Spencer was adamant he was not a “salicious writer”.
Earl Spencer said he is not a “salicious writer”(Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire)
“I’m aware of mortality and I wanted to just put things down once and for all that were true,” he said, continuing on by hinting that he had almost been kind in the tell-all book.
“This is not a threat, it’s a fact, I know lots of things about the King which I chose not to include in the book because they were not relevant,” he said.
When put to him that the statement sounded like a threat when it involved potentially damaging information, he said: “No, not at all a threat, it’s just the reality.”
Prince Charles in love with his valet
Earl Spencer was asked if he was not a “salicious writer” why he decided to include an account of a conversation in which his sister told him Prince Charles was in love with his valet – a claim Earl Spencer said was improbable – and asked if he was motivated in including some of these allegations to create interest to sell the book.
Earl Spencer said his sister spoke to him about the need for a divorce(Image: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)
“It’s in the context of a conversation where Diana is telling me that her marriage is over,” the earl replied.
“It’s a brother’s tribute, a loving tribute to a sister. And I think she deserves honesty so that’s what I’ve delivered. That is what she told me.”
Calls for Harry and Meghan to be protected
Earl Spencer says he believes that Prince Harry and his family should be given official security now they are back in the UK.
He said he can see a likeness in the way the media is treating them in a similar way to Princess Diana, adding that there should not be a repeat of history. Harry and Meghan have returned to live in Britain with their children six years after they quit royal duties and moved to the US.
Harry and Meghan have moved back to the UK with their children(Image: Getty Images)
“From a security aspect, as an uncle who’s seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, I would veer towards protection,” he said.
He said the tabloid treatment of both Diana, and Harry and Meghan, could be “really, really unpleasant”, that it was “beholden on people” to learn from that experience.
“[Diana] was really brought low by all that criticism. And yeah I suppose it’s a pity when I see echoes of that now.
“I personally worry about the fifth in line to the throne, who has served in the military, not having any police protection. As an uncle, I do worry about the security aspect.”
Prayer that the boys will make up
Earl Spencer said there is a “misconception in the media that he is on Harry’s side” but that he does not see it that way, and would be there for both of the boys should they ask for his assistance.
He said he is purely on “my deceased sister’s sons’ side- both of them”, saying: “And if either of them wanted anything, then I would be equally there for them. And I would never get involved in one camp or another except as a benign figure, I hope. That’s my role.”
Prince William and Prince Harry are said not to be close anymore(Image: POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
He said there are a “lot of reasons on both sides” why the brothers’ relationship had “got to this stage”.
“I hope one day it’s resolved, but I don’t know all – I certainly don’t know what’s been done in the finer detail and so I would feel intrusive if I got more involved than to say of course a mother would want her two sons to be happy together and love each other,” he said.
The Earl only supports a monarchy that has moved with the times
Earl Spencer had to be pressed on whether he supports the monarchy in its current form. The ninth earl of an aristocratic family whose peerage dates back to the 18th Century and retains its vast estate, said he is “all for a monarchy, but I like a modern monarchy”.
Earl Spencer was questioned on his opinion on the monarchy(Image: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA Wire)
He said: “You know, you mentioned the statement earlier, ‘His Majesty says”, I just don’t think it’s healthy for a human being to be seen in such archaic, servile terms.”
When Kuenssberg asked him if he supported this monarchy, following the damning book he has just written, he said: “I do.”
He added when challenged: “Well, I’m not dealing with King Charles as monarch in this book, this is all 30-odd years ago and what was said and done then.”
