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.

What? I’m talking about his credibility. Lack of.

Dear Heavens, what is dignified about writing a book about your tragically deceased sister?

Agree.

And actually I think the public are to blame for the coffin walking nonsense. The was a national outcry and hysterical baying for some sort of emotional response from the royal family. They were virtually forced into some sort of tokenism and histrionic performance at the funeral because it was believed they weren’t showing enough due reverence.

With hindsight, it was indeed very wrong to make two young children walk behind the gun carriage. But the royals were merely reacting to public feeling.

This.
And its usually a sales tactic employed by the men in her life.
Morton, Burrell, Harry and now Spencer.

Nowt. But money talks.

He is an accomplished writer and historian and his sister was one of the great characters of the late 20th century. I can see it as only being natural he wants to get his side of this on the record. He's not Harry being ghost written by a long shot.

Surely William is also William because of his childhood and Charles should be recognised for that? Or is it just that the damaged son is all the fault of his father (never his mother of course) and the stable son is just lucky?
William is probably William because he has a purpose in life. He knew from birth that he would be King, he would be in charge, he was the Most Important, he would get all the cash. The 'spares' have no purpose and are just hanging around until their older sibling has kids and then they are shoved lower and lower down, waiting for handouts. That is what causes issues for them. Citing Edward and Anne is irrelevant because they were so far down the line they knew they would have to make their own way. They also had their own ' issues' when they were younger.

Best publicity stunt ever. It's a book. About a deceased Princess, involving the Royal Family and all the shenanigans involved before during and after her death and probably lots more besides.

I'll be reading it anyway. Those who refuse to read it, or read the excerpts, or read commentary about it are not being truthful when they say that - I'd say.

For many reasons it can be better to use this kind of language. It’s less aggressive and antagonistic than accusing someone of lying. It is more nuanced and takes into account the heightened emotions, the grief. It accepts that there are two sides. But it also quite clearly says that KC3 disputes this account. Just like “recollections may vary” was the Queen disputing the accusations of racism.

Yep, I can totally see him saying these words.
I am disgusted, but not surprised. What a ghastly man - him and the whole family really.

I don't care what their cultists say ( yes, this is indeed a cult where anybody who goes against the Royal Family is painted as 'crazy', 'paranoid', 'confused' and the whole 'recollections may vary' nonsense) - enough with this archaic, undignified institution.

Need to clarify further - research has shown that each time you remember an event it is coloured by how you're feeling at the time of remembering, ie if you're angry when you think about it, then the memory becomes angry and so on.

I can’t view any historian as such while they are writing about such an emotional and personal topic.

A brain surgeon wouldn’t operate on themselves.

I'll reserve judgement on the coffin walking. When I saw it at the time I thought how horrible for those poor boys to have to do that in public but then again, maybe they wanted to or it was really important to them to do that? I'm sure there's plenty we don't know and it's not our business to know.

And yet they are here clucking their distaste as the tawdry nature of it all , clutching their pearls ! Silecne and ignoring it would be the wisest counsel.

Ukisgaslit is spot on though.

As is LipglossAlly

All of those responses are designed to smear (and silence) the critic.

@noonames

It is dismissive waffle .

These weasel words are not clever or effective .
Saying nothing at all would be a better strategy or a clear denial .
These patronising puff statements are just a weak place holder - hoping the issue will go away. They reinforce the accusation .

Interesting that there was no vague waffle re Virginia . They called her a liar in a formal statement . Yes she was a legal threat . But they thought they could squash her . She was a nobody to them . And she was telling the truth . How much more has gone in that we nothing about ?

Edward's a bit different. The only one not to divorce. A well behaved daughter. He had sufficient backbone not to stick with the Forces simply because that's what the Royals do.

I don't beleive that KC said this. I have read so many books about the RF over the years and whilst you never really know what actually happened or what was said by whom, I have read a couple of times that KC actually stood up to QEII about what they should do after Diana's death in Paris.

The line I recall was KC asking his mother, in anger 'do you want her to come home in a Harrods van?' He was insistent on going to Paris to bring her back to the UK. I think I even read there was a swear word used.

I do not believe that KC does not have a heart. I don't think he said this. He and Diana were apparently getting on very well after their divorce.

Earl Spencer and Diana were not on speaking terms when she died.

You are right here; and I say that as a person with some experience.

It's his 11th book and I can see exactly why he would want to write it and create history himself. A brains surgeon literally couldn't operate on themself or otherwise I'm sure many would.

Althorp: The Story of an English House (1998) — the history of the Spencer family home at Althorp.
The Spencer Family (1999) — the history of the Spencer dynasty; published in America as The Spencers: A Personal History of an English Family.
Blenheim: Battle for Europe (2004) — the Battle of Blenheim and the Duke of Marlborough's campaign.
Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier (2007) — biography of Prince Rupert of the Rhine.
Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I (2014) — the men involved in Charles I's trial and execution.
Impressions of Althorp: Thoughts on My Spencer Heritage (2015) — a more personal book about Althorp and his Spencer heritage.
To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape (2017) — Charles II's extraordinary escape after the Battle of Worcester.
The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I's Dream (2020) — the 1120 shipwreck and its consequences for England.
A Very Private School: A Memoir (2024) — his memoir about being sent to boarding school at eight.
The Rabbit Hole Book (2024) — written with Richard Coles and Cat Jarman, based on their Rabbit Hole Detectives podcast.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister (2026) — his forthcoming memoir about Diana and their childhood and relationship. It is due to be published 22 September 2026, so as of today it has not quite been released.

I remember him going as well and hearing about the row with his mother.

I didn’t recall that Spencer was not speaking to his sister, just a general sense that her family had abandoned her and that other than some friends and her boyfriends she seemed very alone.

A brain surgeon doesn’t have lots of fellow surgeons operating on his patient claiming to know their history and case as well as he does.

Yes, I made sure my children fully participated in a close personal loss and had choices. I felt it was important for them. I did actually feel it was awful for my children to have to front such a crowded funeral when that time happened, but it's all part of it. I still think it's awful William and Harry had to do it so much in public, but the value of it for them probably is still valid.

Yes!
I watched the speech on tv at the time and thought that while well written (he is a formidably intelligent man who, unlike his sister, had the best education money could buy) it was utterly hypocritical.
If you genuinely care about the well being of your nephews you don’t use their mother’s funeral to publicly feed your feud with their father’s side of the family, whether your negativity towards them is well founded or not. It’s the last thing they need.
I was amazed how many people seemed to be taken in by it.

But if they'd been so concerned, why let 2 children walk behind coffin.