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.

Now that would be a book worth reading.

As someone said upthread the unquestioning deference towards the royal family and the belief that whatever they say is the truth is shocking. I well believe that KC would have said that. It came across that the RF, in particular KC and Camilla, saw Diana as an annoyance. KC reply to Earl Spencer was awful and patronising to say the least.

Cant they all leave Diana to rest without grifting off of her name, its gross.

Only after Diana was adulterous. It wasn't a secret, she was pretty blatant about it.

Cant believe anything any of them say in my opinion- can well imagine he said it, but also someone with a book to shill has a motive for sensatonalising and capitalising on this. All as bad as eachother.

@Sereine

You enjoy that do you ?

The tired old trope that all critics are ‘crazy’?
It does not work .

They need a new line
You know what would work to improve the image of the Windsors ? Full and transparent cooperation with the police re what the Windsors knew about Epstein . What’s that about 30000 emails re Andrew’s time as trade envoy ‘missing’?

As for the comment, I’m pretty sure you’d remember someone saying that to you. Why invent such a thing all this time later?

To sell books?

Agree.

It must have been rushed out and I’m sure if they have an iota of sense they are regretting the patronising attempt at dismissal .

If it’s untrue why jump to try to smear Charles Spencer ? They look weak and panicked . Which they are .

Exactly haha, but always the same- people will take what aligns with their views as the truth without questioning (on both sides). These men making money decades on from her death and digging up some hurtful stuff is gross.

Absolutely. Some are quite happy to use anyone in their campaign.

That’s what Spencer is doing here.

Also can’t believe someone is excusing his gross infidelity. And I use gross to mean both despicable and extensive.

This. I am always vehemently on the side of Diana and thought she was royally stitched up by the RF (yes, yes, don't @ me!) But mic-drop moments are so careless.
Spencer's words at her funeral: "I pledge that we, her blood family, will continue to do what we can to impassion and protect these two exceptional boys so that their souls are not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned" seem to have translated into 'sing like a canary' viz himself and Harry.

Spencer has had a reputation as being unstable long before that statement was issued.

If it was to do with the boys walking behind the coffin I can quite see Charles saying "it will be forgotten soon".

Didn't PP encourage them to as he thought that they would regret not doing it?

In its way, it's quite amusing that Spencer was criticising Charles' parenting decisions, given that his own children won't talk to him.

The walking behind the cofffin was done for one reason only - to protect Charles .
The fear was he’d be heckled by the public - having the children there would stop that .

I'm obviously not as in the know as you.

If it’s untrue why jump to try to smear Charles Spencer ?

Firstly, if it’s untrue then a correction is not a smear. Secondly, you really can’t fathom why an important public figure would seek to defend his reputation against a lie like that? Especially in the midst of a difficult situation with his younger son who is still struggling with his mother’s death?

Let the woman rest. Even after all these years she's being used to sell books.

They confided in you, did they?

There is no way anyone would have heckled during the funeral, not least because it would have sounded as if they were heckling Diana.

You know there's no independent proof that any of that happened? No photos, nobody else saw it but Diana, who by the time those accusations were made was a master at manipulating the media.

If what you say is correct why was there no absolute denial ?

Look at the statement . There is no denial .
Why?
Just the usual pathetic ‘all critics are confused’
As if that family of Andrew protectors have any moral authority .

I cant imagine KC saying this . 1 he's not stupid enough to Charles spencer that kind of ammunition. 2 He loves his children . 3 I do believe he had some genuine warm feeling towards Diana when you silenece away all the noise which I should imagine happened after her death did .
I think harry has a hand in this book and I believe the know8of it being published has emboldened his move to the UK .

Planned it all then, did ye?

Frankly I just feel it's all tawdry. I can quite believe in an argument words were said that have been misremembered, misconstrued, said in haste and regretted later. Who knows, unless CS has a recording then it can never be verified. People's memories of events change over the years - research has shown you don't actually remember the event itself, but you remember how you felt at the time of the event - that then colours your subsequent recollections. Actual adults would have tried to sort this out at some point over the past 30 years.

Diana was no saint, and while a book by Charles Spencer's ex wives would be interesting, a book about Diana's life with comments from Julia Carling and Mrs Hoare would also be illuminating. Diana was a complex, fascinating woman who was clearly damaged by her childhood and upbringing. She should have been protected by the adults around her - and I include the RF, but mainly her own family in that.

I'm most disturbed by the fact she was monetised and used by men all her adult life, and also now in her death, most distressingly by those who claim to love and protect her the most - her brother and her youngest son.

I do have one question - how was CS badly treated by the RF? He spoke at her eulogy, he was visibly involved in the funeral, her sisters travelled with Charles to Paris. Have I missed how CS was badly treated?

Edit - clarity

Tbh, and I’m no fan of the royal family, the speech Spencer made at the funeral was absolute clap trap and performative nonsense. and certainly wasn’t the place or time to settle any scores.

Despite his promises, he’s had little to do with his nephews - too busy chasing women, I assume - and didn’t he deny his sister accommodation on his estate because he didn’t want the press intrusion, but was happy to exploit her memory with money making exhibitions after her death?

For those who think of Diana too as some form of saint, worth reading Shadows of a Princess by her private secretary, Patrick Jephson. Behind the scenes, she was a very different person and some of her comments about the vulnerable that she had visited were pretty obnoxious. There was a massive ego at play here where she would avidly read every newspaper report about herself and if any weren’t as favourable as she liked, she would contact the editor to ask why. She also ensured that the media were tipped off when she did these supposedly “out of hours” charity visits.

Absolutely no fan of Charles either, but he and the rest of the rather unphotogenic Windsor family, were always going to lose out to a woman who knew how to manipulate the media and play the victim.