Royal row between King Charles and Earl Spencer

[Viviennemary]

Buckingham Palace said they don't usually comment but they can't stay silent. Apparently Prince Charles said at the time of Diana's death rest assured we'll forget her soon enough. Which is pretty horrendous. Charles has more or less said grief had clouded Earl Spencer's judgement and memory.

I don't know why he has waited nearly 30 years to come out with this.

As probably the world's longest running and compelling soap opera they sort of earn their keep but it infantilises the nation and civic space and in the modern era just looks plain odd. Then they would be free to say eff off and Harry gets to say I told you so !

No one said he hadn’t been in love or had relationships before Catherine. What is unlikely is that he was “engaged” even if just as you seem to think in a juvenile 18 year old way. He was, even at 18, quite aware that who he would marry was important. He was careful enough to make sure that Catherine knew exactly what a relationship and marriage with him would entail (just as well given what a balls up his brother has made of this), so it’s not very believable that he would be so rash as to get engaged at 18 when he was notably cautious just a few years later

Yes I remember that from the (I think) 20 year documentary - Harry said he was glad he had done it. William said it was very difficult and he hid behind his fringe. Both of them said that it was a collective decision that they should do the walk. And yes Harry said that Charles was there for them.

@MargaretThursday yes harry wrote an article about how supportive Charles was after Diana's death when he took him and William away on a two week holiday. He talked about how amazing it was just having two weeks just the three of them. Although harry was praising his father, it sounded very sad to me for a 12 year old boy to be so grateful his father took him out of boarding school and spent two whole weeks with him and his brother.

I don’t think anyone has claimed William hadn’t been in love before Catherine - please do point that out if they have. Just questioning who these multiple aristos you mentioned are, who apparently turned him down. So far we have a total of 0.

Well the engagement story came from somewhere. It was t me who mentioned the multiple aristos. Another poster

Petulant selfish man says something petulant and selfish - shock.

Agree with this and coupled with the very convenient so called heist of four copies of the book, I also think Charles Spencer is engaged in a PR exercise to improve sales

I thought that. It must have been hell for her to be subjected to a man wanting everything 100% his own way, however unfair, and have everyone around you brief against you and throw you to the wolves in order to protect a deeply dysfunctional family. It's that classic thing of labelling ' mental ' the one person who is actually telling the truth and reacting normally to a horrible situation. Ive always wanted to believe Charles is a kind, compassionate man, but from everything that's come out over the years, and now this from Charles Spencer, it's looking increasingly likely that he's an uttterly selfish, spoilt brat.

Are you his ex wife?

Ingrid Seward who was the editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine said at a literary festival in 2016 , that the then-Prince Charles was "fatalistic" and "extremely nervous" about being shot dead during Princess Diana's 1997 funeral procession. Because public anger toward him was so intense following her death, he worried he had become "public enemy number one" and would be targeted by a gunman.

I also remember an ex-policeman some years later confirming this and saying that he had to position himself to take a bullet at the potential most vulnerable spot but I can’t remember if that was at the rehearsal or the actual event.

Also Alastair Campbell’s diaries
confirmed that Buckingham Palace courtiers shared these safety fears. According to Campbell, officials actively pushed for Prince William to walk in the procession specifically because they feared Charles might be publicly attacked if he walked alone or only alongside Charles Spencer.

What on earth does this have to do with Charles Spencer and his book?

”I think it is very likely.” Who cares? I think loads of things are likely. Do you want to hear any of them? No, I’m sure not.

💯 agree @MrsBennetsPoorNervesAreBack .

So are you saying Harry was lying? I suppose he does have a habit of doing that. Although he could have meant that it was comforting for a father to try and spend time with them like it says on the tin

Oh I’m sorry, I have confused you with @Ukisgaslit who made the original claim. At least you came up with a name, even if the story is disputed. Perhaps they are still busy composing a list of all the aristos who spurned him.

And that was on their wedding day…!

This has been mentioned purely to sell a book and never before, that is suspicious to me.

Agree with your sentiments about how Charles behaved and Camilla of course. Spencer has had quite a few wives himself, that often comes with ‘overlap’ too!

I don’t think “Just call me Harry but remember I’m a Prince and so’s my wife,” would like that.

Sorry to quote my own post but I found the Guardian article about it:

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2011/jan/17/alastair-campbell-diaries-diana-funeral

I agree.
Charles Spencer is not a nice man but this rings true.
I wasn't a fan of DIANA at all, but post her death and reading of how she was used and treated by the entire royal family is disgusting.
I have a 19 year old and the thought of her and her virginity being used by him and his family fully repulses me.
I wonder how William will feel about his father when his daughter is a 19 year old.
Would he be happy for her to be so used.
They never cared a whit for her.

Are you always so black and white?

I am clearly saying at the time harry thought it was amazing for his father to spend two whole weeks with him and his brother after his mum died.

As a much older man and father himself, he has a different perspective.

It's common for people to accept their parents behaviour when kids, but when they become parents themselves think wtf. Like my friend whose mum would often tell her as a child that being with children was boring and annoying. And accepted that as truth. Until as a parent she realised how messed up that was.

This is so true.

I remember so clearly some daft and rather hysterical individuals confronting photographers soon after Diana’s death, shouting in their faces that they’d killed her/had blood on their hands - something Spencer fanned the flames of in his eulogy.

If anyone was to blame, it was the public themselves who couldn’t get enough of her. If people didn’t buy the magazines or newspapers showing Diana on a beach, kissing her latest lover, running out of a gym etc, etc, there would have been no need for the paparazzi. All they were doing were supplying the demand for more and more intrusive photos because it sold copy.

An awful lot of hypocrisy at the time regarding Diana’s death.

It would have been a lot more appropriate if Diana had had a private family funeral. It would have spared the boys from all the public hysteria, and the RF from fears of being assassinated. I don't think a state funeral was at all necessary. It was all Tony Blair's doing and it wasn't his business in any way.

Hard agree.

Can't stand the bloke.

They are no longer royals. It's about time everyone else joined them. They cannot all just be rich people living their life. And then totally up to them how much in the public they are.