Earl Spencer fires again at ‘gaslighting’ King Charles after ‘very aggressive’ remark
Earl Charles Spencer has hit back at a statement made by Buckingham Palace made in response to claims made in his book about his sister Princess Diana
Earl Charles Spencer has hit back at a statement made by Buckingham Palace(Image: Getty Images)
Earl Spencer has hit back at King Charles after the monarch’s response to his new book. Charles Spencer, younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, alleged in ‘Swan Song: Diana, My Sister’ that, as the Prince of Wales, Charles had been “giddily elated” and behaving “like a lottery winner”.
He also claimed the King told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough” before Prince William and Prince Harry walked behind their mothers’ coffin.
However, Buckingham Palace took the unprecedented step of hitting back at the claims, saying: “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 colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Spencer, 62, has since responded to the Palace’s response in a new interview with former magazine editor Tina Brown. During the interview in New York, he accused the Palace’s statement as “very aggressive” and claimed the King was “gaslighting” him and attempting throw doubt into what he recalled.
Mr Spencer made several claims about King Charles in his book(Image: Andrew Milligan-Pool/Getty Images)
When Brown asked Spencer about his claims causing a “great debate” in the UK, he responded: “I don’t know if it is a great debate. I’ll tell you why, [Charles] had the opportunity to not say anything or to deny it and he did neither.”
Taking aim at the Palace’s statement, he said that Charles “didn’t say ‘I didn’t say it’,” and hit back at the point over “fraternal grief”, saying it was “called gaslighting”.
He also went further by hitting out at the monarch’s “temper”.
Making reference to the King getting annoyed at a pen in 2022 and Diana’s funeral, he added: “The last thing she would want was to have those boys traumatised walking behind her body.
“So I was very calm, and we know Prince Charles can be not calm. We all bow our heads in respect to what that pen had to endure when he had his tantrum.”
Spencer has since given other interviews in relation to the book, including on CNN where he stood by his claim over the disagreement he and the King had before Diana’s funeral.
He said: “I thought it was an absurd idea and really not right. And he [the King] saw things very differently. And we had a difference of opinion. It was probably one of those moments for him. But for me, as a grieving brother, it was very shocking.”
Mr Spencer has said he spoke to Prince Harry about the book(Image: Dominic Lipinski – WPA Pool/Getty Images)
As well as talking about the book’s contents, Spencer has spoken about the build-up to its publication, including what happened when he told Prince Harry he was planning to write it.
The Express reported Spencer said that Harry had no issues with it, but did ask if there was anything in the book that would affect him.
The Earl added: “Harry was sort of like, ‘Is there anything in there that would be embarrassing to me?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ You know, I’m very specific about people’s privacy.”
He went onto confirm that the book was created in almost complete secret with only his wife and the publishers knowing that he was writing it. He concluded: “I didn’t tell any of the family until just before it was released publicly.
“Because I didn’t want anyone to think, particularly with Harry, who people know I had to stay in the summer, that he was in any way involved in this.
