Earl Spencer’s bombshell memoir reveals shocking claims about the Royal Family’s response to Princess Diana’s death, including cold putdowns and a lack of care for Prince Harry
A sensational new tell-all memoir by Earl Spencer has dropped explosive accusations against the Royal Family, threatening to blow open decades-old wounds.
Serialised in the Daily Mail ahead of its release, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister unearths deeply personal details about the aftermath of Princess Diana’s tragic 1997 death. The bombshell claims have already forced Buckingham Palace into making an unprecedented statement, suggesting “fraternal grief can cloud reason” and colour memory.
Undeterred, Earl Spencer has stood firmly by his allegations, insisting his accounts are entirely accurate. Here are five of the most staggering revelations to emerge from the Earl’s shocking new book.
King Charles said the world would ‘forget’ Diana
During a fierce heated argument over Princess Diana’s funeral arrangements, Earl Spencer claims the then-Prince Charles made a cold-hearted comment about his late ex-wife.
Spencer alleges he warned Charles that William and Harry would not have wanted to walk behind their mother’s coffin, prompting Charles to question the Spencers’ sense of duty.
The Earl writes that Charles then unleashed “his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death,” before brutally declaring down the phone: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
‘Lack of care’ for Prince Harry at Diana’s funeral
The Earl expressed severe concern over how the young princes were handled during the tragic funeral procession and its emotional aftermath.
Reflecting on the painful walk behind Diana’s coffin and the subsequent journey on the Royal Train, Spencer slammed the lack of support for a young Prince Harry.
Recalling the tragic period, Spencer wrote: “He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him. But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control.”
He added that a “more caring hand” could have spared Harry enormous torment later in life.
Queen ‘tetchily’ asked ‘what is she up to now’ after Diana’s crash
In another jaw-dropping passage, Earl Spencer discusses Queen Elizabeth II’s immediate reaction upon hearing that Diana had been involved in a high-speed collision in Paris.
Before the full tragic scale of the crash was understood, Spencer claims the late monarch responded with irritation rather than panic or concern.
He writes: “When the Queen had heard the first news of Diana’s being in a traffic accident, she had asked tetchily, ‘What is she up to now?'”
Queen ‘offered to restore Diana’s HRH’ title after her death
Following Diana’s death, the late Queen allegedly made a surprise offer to posthumously return her Her Royal Highness status, which had been stripped away during her bitter 1996 divorce.
Spencer reveals that the Queen’s Private Secretary, Robert Fellowes, pulled him aside on the Royal Train to break the news:
“‘I have just received a call from Her Majesty,’ he said… ‘and she would like to offer Diana her HRH title back.'”
However, Spencer rejected the gesture as a pointless consolation prize, recalling his response: “That’s very kind of the Queen, of course. But what’s the point, Robert? Now? I mean – Diana’s dead.”
Charles sounded ‘giddily elated’ after Diana’s death
Perhaps the most astonishing charge levelled at the monarch involves his phone call to Spencer shortly after Diana’s death was confirmed.
While other callers were paralysed by shock and grief, Spencer claims Charles sounded bizarrely upbeat on the line.
Describing the call, Spencer writes: “Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.”
Spencer speculated that Charles was secretly calculating how the tragedy would allow him to marry Camilla.