Royal row between King Charles and Earl Spencer 2

[Viviennemary]

Buckingham Palace have said they won't be commenting further on the book. But I expect plenty of others will be and it's not even published yet so I started this second thread. I really liked Diana and thought she got treated shabbily by Charles. But really writing a book of gripes 30 years later is not on imho. I noticed on the news Harry declined to comment on it. Sensible decision for once.

It instead ends on a high - a positive affirmation that her memory will be kept alive :

the extraordinary and irreplaceable Diana whose beauty, both internal and external, will never be extinguished from our minds."

Ah reading about Diana, and reading Earl spencers speech there, made me miss Diana.

I miss the days when she was alive. There was always some really interesting news story about her in OK Magazine. Her celebrity status was like no other. She was like a film star but she also did a lot of good. Do you rememlber - people who are old enough to remember. It was an interesting time

It would have been a bit off to TOTALLY have a go in the church at his sister's funeral

Well ,well Well !
Charles v Charles.

Arnt the Spencers supposed to be more royal than the royals ?

…and almost as a no she will never be forgotten quickly affirmation?

Sometimes you can remember things accurately. Ive been in situations where people have been out in a group laughing about something that happened in the past where everyone was there and each person chips in with a bit if the story and they can all remember it pretty much verbatim. Sometimes you do remember stuff. Why would anyone write a memoir and a publisher publish it if nobody could remember anything accurately ever ? Also, I think there are plenty of examples of KC losing his temper and I'm sure it would be in his interest to suggest that recollections may differ. How convenient !!!

He mentioned in closing that she would not be forgotten but in more eloquent terms. As a brother would in front of the man who dismissed the value of her life and legacy so quickly. I remember the tension at the time, the coldness of the royal family and the preceding years when King Charles was cold as ice to his ex-Wife. Those saying they had a great post separation relationship need to cite sources as that is the opposite of my recollection (know they may vary!)

Good points. That’s why writing a contemporaneous note and keeping a diary is so important. Hoping CS did, but telling folk close to him at the time next best thing.

The day Diana died, Charles was woken in the night by phone calls. Had to tell his children, negotiate the next steps with the Queen, get from Scotland to England to meet Diana's sisters and fly with them to the hospital in Paris, greet and thank the hospital staff, see his dead wife, fly back with her to England then get back to Balmoral that night. All in the eye of a global outpouring of grief.
When someone dies young and unexpectedly the shock is profound.
I don't believe he was giddy and elated. I imagine he was full of adrenaline and all over the place.

I'm not saying that all memories are inaccurate, because we wouldn't function as a species if they were.

But it doesn't follow that we can rely on memory as a factual recording of what happened, because, that isn't how the human brain works.

No ifs, no buts, no "well I remember the colour of my riding hat when I was twelve". That is NOT how the human brain records things. Just because we do have correct memories does not mean that all of our memories are correct.

I have an incredibly retentive memory. I also know and understand that my memories are just as fallible as anyone else's and don't assert my memory as fact without substantiating evidence.

@StartupRepair They were divorced. She wasn’t his wife.

Of course. Ex-wife.

Well, I see what you are saying, but it maybe doesnt matter anyway because I'm pretty sure there's plenty of other what you call
' substantiating evidence' around to corroborate all the stuff Earl Spencer is saying. With one thing and another, it's really starting to look like KC is rather like a toddler having a temper tantrum every time he doesn't get his own way. And, in spite of what many have said in here, I actually do think CS comes across as rather credible in the way he absorbed the whole ' tone' of events back then. As a citizen and ' subject' I'm rather glad this stuff is coming out because I'm somewhat sick of being manipulated and fed lies by Buckingham Palace every time someone stuffs up. We've had the appalling Andrew, then the obsesdive Harry and now the spiteful and tempered Charles.

Her mental health problems are well documented, so cut being snarky.
She tried to miscarry her baby - Prince William.
So pathologically jealous she forced Charles to give away his elderly dog.
Courted and manipulated the press.
Made death threats to Camilla by 'phone in the middle of the night. Also made silent night calls to the wives of men she was sleeping with.
And so on.

What stands out to me in the latest extract - Charles Spencer flies to England and sees Charles. It’s the first interaction they’ve had since the phone call where he claims Charles makes an inappropriate comment and is giddy like a lottery winner at Diana’s death. By his account Charles is polite but formal in their meeting. Spencer doesn’t raise the issue of the phone call. Why? His recently deceased sister has been insulted by her ex-husband and when he sees Charles in person he says nothing about it? That is bizarre.

He also sees William and Harry. He says he is uncomfortable about the funeral plan and hopes they haven’t been dragooned into walking behind the coffin. At no point does he describe actually asking them if they’re okay about it. Why doesn’t he? Wouldn’t a concerned uncle - as he’s at pains to present himself - actually ask his nephews if they want to do this? Again, very strange behaviour.

I would like to trust his account but there are a lot of self-serving gaps that make me thinks there’s some historical revisionism going on here.

So what.

I know loads and loads of people who have mental health issues.

It's like saying 'do you know anyone who has ever had a physical health issue'

Everyone has mental health issues

I think another side of him may have been somewhat elated unfortunately as Diana was always going to be a thorn in his side during his lifetime. And the fact that the “problem” of Diana was suddenly taken away, leaving him free to marry Camilla … or his valet 😉… or whatever … may have given him a certain sense of giddy relief. I think that is plausible actually.

Poor old Diana. I hadn't thought about her in a long time. It's nice that her lifeand the memories are being brought up again

I certainly agree that King Charles is coming across like a petulant toddler having a temper tantrum every time he doesn't get his own way.

I have heard other commentators say before that he doesn’t ever respond well to the word “no”.

Very different to the image that BP like to portray of a steady, settled, calm philosophical monarch.

But of course by now we know it’s the MIGs who shape and project the characters of the various key members of the RF to make them appear acceptable and popular with the general public, and often the image is very different from the reality.

I think this job is getting harder and harder in the 21st century, and the lack of authenticity is beginning to grate. I also agree that people are sick of the manipulation. Why do we need this secrecy and pseudo knee-bending reverence for our head of state? I would far prefer someone who is serious, ordinary and professional to do the job who doesn’t come with soap opera baggage attached and who doesn’t live behind a wall of men in grey suits. I would like a potential candidate to be genuinely who they say they are, and be transparent and accountable to the citizens of our collective countries.

Also, I’m sorry, but I don’t think placing a person who is already enormously rich and entitled in to a position where everyone bows to their will and speaks to them in hushed tones is very good for anyone’s character. That is exactly what produces spoilt toddler-like men!

My point being that Charles is endlessly criticised. He is not to blame for all of her issues.
Simple enough to understand isn't it?

He’s in a very precarious situation bc he OK’d the book himself. He was privy to what was going in it and we’ve been told he views his uncle as a second father after self-ostracising himself from the rest of the family over the last few years.

He can’t really say a lot either way as he still needs his father’s approval for an easier life but still has the vendetta over his mother and the way he himself feels unfairly treated by his family.

I can understand William’s utter dismay that his younger brother has commandeered their mothers legacy as if he was her only child when William himself loved her just as much and arguably would be feeling the loss of her motherly support in his role as future king, among other things he has been going through recently. Added to which he looks so much like her it’s bizarre that ppl seem to forget his own connection with her in favour of his whining dolt of a brother.

Or as a reference to Elton John's Candle in the Wind song that he changed to be for Diana. 🙄

I think she brought 95% of her mental health issues into the marriage.

And Spencer must feel horribly guilty because Diana wanted to go to the ancestral family home to rest and sort herself out and Spencer refused to let her do that.

I mean, who does that when a family member is in need of her family home for comfort and respite?

Charles Spencer does that. He treated his sister horribly which is why they were estranged throughout so much of her life. He doesn't seem to have treated any of the women in his life well, not wives, mistresses, girlfriends, at least one sister.... But then, he was addicted to the bottle, so I am sure his "fans" will give him a pass.

I wonder if he was even sober at all during the days after Diana's death? I know where my bet would lie on it.

Also, I’m sorry, but I don’t think placing a person who is already enormously rich and entitled in to a position where everyone bows to their will and speaks to them in hushed tones is very good for anyone’s character. That is exactly what produces spoilt toddler-like men!

I remember pen gate & what actually struck me was how the grey suits jumped to placate KC & how C just took over, clearly it’s not an unusual occurrence. Is it even possible to grow up raised as the future King & not be entitled?!