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.

We all saw the photos of Charles at the time. This simply isn't believable.

I have Savile’s early autobiography - it’s an interesting, if disturbing in retrospect, read.

Yes, it’s fair to say he certainly wasn’t a stupid man & had common sense & (usefully) the common touch. They’re classist though so why was he afforded so much extraordinary power?

Photos of him doing public walkarounds. He's hardly going to show his giddy excitement at that time is he?

I never understood the clamour for the royals to get back to London. She died on Sunday morning, her funeral was Saturday so less than a week.

The funeral was announced quickly enough so absolutely no need to have people (mostly who never met Diana and didn’t actually know any of those involved) complaining that there should be a show if returning to London ‘for the people’.

Also zero need for the two boys to be rushed to Althorp given that Charles Spencer was initially in South Africa and neither of his sisters were there.

I really don't get the alleged clamour from the public that the Queen should take William and Harry to London, when it was better for them to stay at Balmoral for the time being. Apparently the same people who think it was terrible for William and Harry (some remember only Harry) to walk behind their mother's coffin wanted them in London to do a walkabout and admire the flowers that had been left outside Buckingham Palace. Most of the UK population doesn't even live in London, so why would they care?

I think this supposed public clamour was more generated by the media, as part of their way of trying to control the royals, to provoke them to get reactions they can then spin stories about - like when Catherine had abdominal surgery and it was announced she would not be doing public engagements for several months and the media started exerting the most horrendous pressure to try to get statements and to "remind" the royals that they can control them. Then when she did start making a public return, she was damned for having edited an Intagram photo, as though every photo posted on Instagram isn't edited! Some even believed that she had disappeared and the whole was fake!

The Queen was the master here with “recollections may vary”.

KC’s statement for me is too long, unwise & ambiguous. Better to say nothing IMO especially as CS will counter attack.

He was probably in shock. It was a shocking event by any standards, Charles W. was at the very least, experiencing the grief of his sons and probably at some level, grief of his own.

He "sounded" upbeat etc. - that's an opinion, not a revelation.

Earl Spencer said that Prince Charles was giddy, elated and excited after Diana died. That makes me sad.

I know how bad divorces can get, and that people often end up hating each other. But to be giddy and excited seems cruel.

I'm also remembering Prince Harry's book where he said - a month after she died, people around him just acted like Diana didn't exist and expected Harry to move on and get back to normal at school . While he was actually in deep grief and trauma over it

If you're in shock you don't sound excited and giddy and happy.

@BunnyBunbunbunsome of it was definitely press stirring, the press used to be far harsher on the Royals pre Diana's death. But people were angry/upset and turned that on the Royals. The public wanted a statement, the flag lowered etc. It was a weird time.

I was around the headlines screaming at the Queen were insane people went collectively crazy the palace was criticised for not flying the flag at half mast when there was no flag raised because the monarch wasnt in residence people on the streets people where i worked (in the Midlands so nowhere near london) people were accusing the Queen of murder of being arrogant "we pay for them they should be here" they were KIDS

The public were furious with press and the press wanted to distract from that.

My friend just said "they'll probably kill Earl Spencer next".

If I wrote a book like this, I would be in fear for my life. The Royal Family have a lot of power.

Absolutely. A real shock I’ve seen trigger hysterical laughter. CS will know this was a possible reason for any extreme response. Edited as replied to wrong PP. Just to say I’ve seen laughter in the wrong context.

I am a Londoner and worked near BP, it’s very hard to explain. It was like people were lost and looking for guidance.

And on what evidence are you basing this assertion? How many different people have you telephoned when they are in a state of shock, documenting their apparent emotional state?

No, the public was also angry with the Royals

Of course not. If CS thought this was a reason for any extreme response, he wouldn't be giving interviews about it.

He is saying this to show a pattern of Prince charles's behaviour after Diana died. CS has also said that Prince Charles said to him 'we will forget Diana soon enough'

So when Prince Charles said

'We will forget Diana soon enough' was that also said "in shock' in your opinion.

I have been shocked at the death of one of my friends recently. I've never said to anyone 'oh don't worry, we will forget Claire soon enough'

I can't remember anyone I knew being angry with the Royals. I lived in London and I remember people going to the mall for the same reasons that they wanted to participate in the aftermath of the Queen's death.

Maybe you saw more of the anger if you were walking past the crowds at Buckingham Palace?

You would have thought so but then with a top notch private office of ex military / FCDO types the word smithing of the riposte will have been obsessed over. It says what it wants to say for a reason and stripped of its weasel words - that CS is lying and the King didn't say it. That is more than clear.

I remember there being a lot of anger at the Royals at the time.

Without a recording of the call "recollections may vary".

I think the media played a blinding job in saving their own skins.

The day after Diana died it was being seen as entirely the fault of the photographers who hounded her and the newspapers and magazines who bought their photos.

Within days they had people up in arms about a flag not being flown despite it never having been flown in history and the Queen somehow betraying the whole country by staying at Balmoral for a few days with her grandsons who’d just lost their mother.

I believe Earl Spencer. 💯 You don’t forget those things being said or how someone sounded at the time.

Many powerful people aren’t who we think they are and the public deserve to make up their own minds about King Charles. Why do we even need a King in a cost of living crisis?

Admire Earl Spencer taking on the establishment. The weight of their wrath will no doubt no seek to discredit, deny and dismiss his claims.