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.

And of course Diana didn't have affairs (numerous ones) or hassle/stalk the cardio dr she was having an affair with. The list of her lovers is pretty endless and many were married.
Her behaviour was far from good.

What I am saying is that Harry said it was comforting. He said this as an adult. He hasn’t said anything different since. So it is just your spin that he was somehow deceived in his feelings. Becoming a parent doesn’t always retrospectively adjust everything you ever felt or believed. He was comforted at the time. Why does he now have to change that sentiment? Yes we all recognise that what our parents did was not always what we would do, but equally we can see that they may well have been doing their best. Are you always so black and white that (king) Charles is always wrong 🤷‍♀️

grammar

No it was the public's doing. There was a public outcry at the idea of a small private funeral.
The royal family were forced to do a u turn.

which charles?

I agree, but I don’t think the hysterical hordes would have accepted it.

There would have been the predictable accusations that Diana was being devalued in death and not treated like a royal. Or that there was some kind of cover up - there’s still conspiracy theories that she was murdered despite it being Dodi who changed plans at the last minute. A private funeral would have fed into these outlandish claims.

Harry is still a royal. Just not a Working Royal, the same as Zara Tindall is royal, Lady Sarah Chatto is royal and the Earl of Snowden is royal. What they all have in common is that they are private citizens even though they are part of the royal family.

There was something about Phillip talking to William about it in Harry's book too. Can't remember how it slotted into the chronology.

Yes fair point that Harry might still think Charles was amazing for spending two whole weeks with him and William after their mother's death, before returning them to boarding school.

My own view is that it is extremely sad for someone to see their father as amazing for doing that. If I had died when my children were young I would have hoped my partner would do a lot more than that.

Harry also said after Charles told him his mum was dead at 12 years old, he was left alone for many hours. And that those hours were very difficult

I think it could have been distressing but I never understood the big hoo ha about it either. Their mum had died that was the distressing part of course. They may have wanted to sit quietly and not be public at the funeral. I just think it is in the past and whoever decided it did so possibly not thinking it through and maybe just her brother could have followed the coffin but it is in the past and can be let go of now.

Harry, as usual, is a mass of contradictions.

Speaking in 2017, Harry told Newsweek, "My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television."

He added, "I don't think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don't think it would happen today."

But later the same year, while being interviewed for the documentary Diana, 7 Days which marked 20 years since the Princess' death, he said, "Generally, I don't have an opinion on whether that was right or wrong. I am glad I was part of it. Looking back on it now, I am very glad I was part of it."

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/daniela-elser-prince-philips-decision-for-harry-and-william-to-walk-behind-dianas-coffin-was-harrowing/323XZJZWE2WV7HH5L2Z6PECUFQ/

"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,"

We all have different opinions but I do think this is an appalling statement from the Palace. KC knows nothing of "fraternal grief" - it would be kinder to say that Spencer is lying. It is so hypocritical to me that the message pretends to empathise while going against their own principles - as it says - and using soft words to inflict the most damning injury. You are all paying for this.

The earlier talk about the newspapers made me curious to Google the newspapers before Diana's death. Yes they ran the bad but when she died it was all good. It was a unique situation.

So they could all become private citizens. If the goldfish bowl is too much then let's free them from that burden.

According to Spencer, he was lied to and told that the boys wanted to walk behind their mother. This is quite an odd statement on his part. Couldn't he have asked his nephews directly himself? It's quite strange that he didn't.

He told the BBC's Today that in the lead-up to her funeral he had been a "passionate advocate" for the teenagers to not take part in the walk and that he had told courtiers that "she [Diana] just would not want them to do this".

"Then eventually I was lied to and told that they wanted to do it, which of course they didn't, but I didn't realise that," he said.

www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/daniela-elser-prince-philips-decision-for-harry-and-william-to-walk-behind-dianas-coffin-was-harrowing/323XZJZWE2WV7HH5L2Z6PECUFQ/

I agree. Absolutely disgusting statement wrapped up in fancy language.
It's designed to be horrible.

Charlie Spencer is a hypocritical, narcissistic piece of shit. The way he treated his wives over the years, god knows how messed up his children are because of his behaviour. His father was a nasty piece of work too

He was told that in a phone call with Charles. We already know this.
What did you want him to do? Ring William and say your father said this, is it true or is he lying? Seriously that would not have been okay to do.

Also remember all this took place over five 24 hour days. It was a very short period of time.

Yes, this is how I remember it. Also @fuschiaproudparrot 's photos of the front pages of newspapers before and after Diana's death.

The royal family made mistakes. However, the press deliberately stoked public hysteria (IMO cynically, both to sell newspapers and to avoid their own behaviour towards Diana being scrutinized). The MSM knew perfectly well what they were doing, and did not have the excuse of trying to cope with a family tragedy.

You are so so disingenuous. Incredibly so.
Diana died in 1997. You share two tabloid headlines, one from 1994 and one from 1995 and you claim this represents how the media reported Diana before her death? Wow

Once she was out of the RF it was open season on her. They were already laying the groundwork to rehabilitate Camilla and a big part of that was making out Diana was an absolute horror of a woman whom Charles had had a lucky escape from.

Absolutely this

Charles Spencer is not a good man imo

I dont know if KC3 said this, but in all honesty I doubt it. Why would he open up to an untrustworthy scrote like Spencer?

I'm not a royalist but in this instance I'm #TeamKC3

Remember this article is published by the Daily Mail who seem to love or hate the royal family in particular they hate Harry and Meghan , they even insinuate Harry and Spencer have a close relationship and blame him for being involved in the book too . Maybe there are lots more positive things said about Charles in the book too but only the sensational bits are published?

Would you seriously suggest that there was no media feeding frenzy about Diana's relationship with Dodi Al Fayed in the months leading up to her death?

I believe the RF steered Charles away from Camila. The relationship was discouraged.

Trouble is, having clapped back about two things in a week (if you include the one about Harry) he's opened the door to a future "Well he didn't say anything about x,y or z, so it must be true"

WE can't have it both ways, and surely it's either "The RF have played a blinder by keeping schtum" or "Well done Charles for speaking up"?