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The royal family

Do you believe Charles Spencer about Charles Windsor's reported remark?

445 replies

OneLilacHedgehog · Yesterday 22:10

Do you believe Charles Spencer that Charles Windsor said to him during a phone call "we'll forget her soon enough."

OP posts:
Janiie · Today 08:50

Pipedreams607 · Today 08:46

Somethinggg · Today 09:38

Daygloboo · Today 09:30
Oh give over

But what does make you think he's intelligent though?

Charles Spencer was a journalist before he became an author and he writes well as it happens; as demonstrated by his famous eulogy which I believe appears on the course books of some universities now as one of the best speeches ever written.

Before that he studied modern history at Magdalen College, Oxford University.

His publications are as follows:

Memoirs & Family History

  • Swan Song: Diana, My Sister (2026): A deeply personal and intimate portrait of growing up with his sister, Princess Diana, and a candid account of her tragic passing.
  • A Very Private School: A Memoir (2024): A poignant firsthand account exploring the culture of cruelty and long-lasting trauma he experienced at a British boarding school during his childhood.
  • The Spencer Family (1999): A detailed history chronicling the lineage and legacy of the Spencer family over several centuries.
  • Althorp: The Story of an English House (1998): A historical guide to his family’s ancestral home, Althorp House.

Historical Non-Fiction

  • The Rabbit Hole Book (2024): Written alongside Richard Coles and Cat Jarman, this companion book to their hit history podcast explores eccentric facts, lost tales, and bizarre historical objects.
  • The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream (2021): A narrative history focusing on the devastating 1120 shipwreck of the White Ship, which drowned the heir to the English throne and sparked a bloody civil war.
  • To Catch a King: Charles II's Great Escape (2017): The thrilling true story of Charles II's six-week evasion of Parliamentarian forces following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester.
  • Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I (2014): A gripping account of the men who signed the death warrant of King Charles I and the brutal retribution they faced after the monarchy was restored.
  • Blenheim: Battle for Europe (2004): A historical analysis of the pivotal 1704 Battle of Blenheim and how it shaped the course of European history.
  • Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier (2002): A biography of Prince Rupert of the Rhine, a prominent Royalist commander during the English Civil War.
Edited

All that yet a very unpleasant man. What a shame .

'as demonstrated by his famous eulogy which I believe appears on the course books of some universities now as one of the best speeches ever written'

You're joking? In course books for universities! I despair at the crap content that students are paying for Grin

Fluffypuppy1 · Today 08:50

Paquitavariation · Yesterday 22:18

No. I don’t believe for one second that if he had said it, that Charles Spencer would have kept quiet about it all these years. He’d have taken every opportunity to shout it from the rooftops every chance he got. He’s said it to sell his book.

This.

He also claims that he told other people at the time as he was so shocked. There’s no way someone wouldn’t have mentioned it by now.

Cathandkin · Today 08:50

butterpuffed · Today 08:49

Earl Spencer is banking on the fact that KC cannot say more to the public than the statement he's already made .

KC may have made the remarks but can ES not see how the fact that he's made these accusations will affect William and Harry so terribly , he's thoughtless and selfish .

Edited

Yes, those are my thoughts. He may feel that KC is fair game, but what about William and Harry, that's got to be painful.

HollyhocksandPeons · Today 08:50

I don't believe it. Charles looked genuinely gutted and I thought he was devastated because even if he did not love her, he realised that she would become a martyr in the public eye and had she stayed alive, she would have continued embarrassing herself with her behaviour - dodgy boyfriends, stalking people physically (Dr Khan) and by the phone (Hoare), etc.etc. and the public would have started disliking her. I remember that Private Eye already started the campaign - on the cover there was Diana observing Khan's operation or somebody else's operation, you could only see her eyes above the mask and a bit of hair and the caption said 'This child is very sick. Yes, it makes two of us'.

ANNotherWriter · Today 08:51

He's a bounder and a cad.

A gentleman would not behave like this.

Dollymylove · Today 08:51

Lavenderandbrown · Yesterday 22:35

Yep or some version of it. Maybe in reference to the press or fans or someone. I don’t think Spenser is making it up.

I do think they (the royal family) vastly underestimated the public mourning and this comment slides in with that.

Charles was stricken and grieving after viewing her body and after the transport
of Diana’s body. He was shocked by seeing her. I do think he realized his /their culpability in leaving her flapping in the wind. DIana should not have been in Paris is August.

I think this lack of security for Diana resulting in her death could influence his decisions re; Harry and family .

Diana refused Royal security because she was convinced people were spying on her and telling Charles what she was doing

HoraceCope · Today 08:52

spencer is not a genuine person

NetZeroZealot · Today 08:52

ConfusedSoShutUp · Today 08:39

But probable 80% of eulogies have some reference to "never forgetting them"... That is kind of what the eulogy is....

Exactly. ‘They will
live forever in our memories…’

’Gone but not forgotten…’

…etc

Cathandkin · Today 08:52

HollyhocksandPeons · Today 08:50

I don't believe it. Charles looked genuinely gutted and I thought he was devastated because even if he did not love her, he realised that she would become a martyr in the public eye and had she stayed alive, she would have continued embarrassing herself with her behaviour - dodgy boyfriends, stalking people physically (Dr Khan) and by the phone (Hoare), etc.etc. and the public would have started disliking her. I remember that Private Eye already started the campaign - on the cover there was Diana observing Khan's operation or somebody else's operation, you could only see her eyes above the mask and a bit of hair and the caption said 'This child is very sick. Yes, it makes two of us'.

I remember all those jokes, and how she got bad press about spending that summer on the yacht with her boyfriend and not with her sons. Her death changed that narrative.

DustyWindowsills · Today 08:53

Should I believe the man who has been divorced once or the man who has been divorced three times?

HoraceCope · Today 08:54

where has spencer been for 29 years?

but why is Laura kuenssberg even interviewing him

AgnesX · Today 08:56

I don't have a lot of time for either Charles but I don't believe that a man, who had been burnt by the debacle with his ex wife, wouldn't be careful about what he said to her brother frankly.

Whatever was said was completely misunderstood by Charles Spencer. IMO.

r0ck · Today 08:56

I think he’s an odious man. Poor William & Harry having their mother’s death dragged up over and over just so their uncle can make some money off of it.

Daygloboo · Today 08:56

Somethinggg · Today 08:38

But what does make you think he's intelligent though?

I've heard him talk in a number of interviews. He's intelligent.

HoraceCope · Today 08:56

Did Harry put him up to it?

mumumental · Today 08:57

DustyWindowsills · Today 08:53

Should I believe the man who has been divorced once or the man who has been divorced three times?

On that basis, there’s a good chance they are both liars!

MurphysColeslaw · Today 08:57

HoraceCope · Today 08:56

Did Harry put him up to it?

Do you mean writing the book?

ThatCyanCat · Today 08:58

I don't trust Spencer and I can't see why he'd hold onto it for this long if it were true. That said, there is a chance he said it, but there'll be a context. Emotions running incredibly high, and perhaps he said it defensively after being told that everyone would blame him for Diana's death and it was all his fault or something.

guestofclanmackenzie · Today 08:59

No. I dont believe he said it. I also dont believe he was "giddy as if he had won the lottery" What an awful man to be putting all this in the media/his book after so many years.

Freysimo · Today 08:59

Do I believe Charles Spencer, serial adulterer, four times married, didn't attend daughter's wedding (probably not invited) and refused Diana refuge? No. He needs the money and I bet Harry is in cahoots with him.

HoraceCope · Today 09:02

he had 4 children, pre 1997
then 2 post 1997
and another one, who was named in honor of diana

alwayslemons · Today 09:02

(I posted this on a separate thread, but copying and pasting here as well...)

Love this sketch, and I do feel the second half of it is relevant here:

Diana's death was bloody awful for the royal family whichever way you look at it.
She'd been criticised for a long time that past year by the press for all sorts of things, been called a bad mother, you name it. When she died, the press (in their guilt) instantly u-turned by plastering that "queen of hearts" stuff all over the front pages and pointing fingers at Buckingham Palace in order to divert attention away from their own abhorrent behaviour, knowing of course that the palace could not retaliate. Diana would forever be remembered as a young, beautiful, saintly, wronged, tragic figure. If she'd lived, aged, made mistakes, shown herself as human and fallible, public opinion today would be quite different I'm sure.

People also seem to have retconned her as hating the monarchy, which is nonsense. She was a monarchist, and had a very close and affectionate relationship with Prince Philip in particular, whom she called "Dearest Pa". Frankly it makes no sense for Prince Charles or any of the rest of the family to be glad when she died. She and Charles were on very good terms by 1997 and were successfully coparenting. Charles would certainly have needed the Queen's consent to marry Camilla, but Diana's death didn't really change the likelihood of that. If anything, it probably set it back a few years because it would have been seen as insensitive to marry too soon afterwards.

Most important, though, the absolute devastation it brought the two young boys to lose their mother - look, you don't have to like Charlie. Plenty of people don't. But he's not a psychopath... he, like anyone else, would have done absolutely anything to spare his sons that kind of pain.

"Giddy" like he'd "won the lottery"? Oh do bugger off you horrid little man.

*Adding to the above - his insinuations about his father's romantic connecting with the Queen are clearly fabricated because the timelines simply do not add up, so we know he's capable of sensationalist lying elsewhere in this same book. He knows what will generate headlines, simple as that.

Charles Spencer has a history of being really quite cruel. His adult children have disowned him. Years after telling the world that his sister needs to be left to rest in peace, he releases a book to exploit her death just a little more for his own financial gain.

I understand a lot of people don't like the King. But please use your critical thinking skills here. A person's dislike of Charles and/or the monarchy doesn't automatically turn Earl Spencer into a stand up, trustworthy, kind man by default. He's an exploitative liar and a bully. I'm amazed anyone is taking this book seriously.

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InternationallyRecognisableIndividual · Today 09:04

I voted no, but I do think it's possible he said it. I think Charles (i.e. the king) was in shock. It was an awful thing to say if so, but very unfair to make it public all these years later. To claim that he was elated and giddy is just despicable; he was visibly devastated.
People do and say things they don't mean when they're trying to process an enormous shock. He may have been overwrought, not sleeping, and running on nervous energy. That is not giddy and elated, and no fair person would claim that.

So I look at the whole thing as being deliberately framed in a way to strip away context and cause maximum damage. I don't think it resembles the truth of the situation at all.

Naddd · Today 09:05

I don't know whether I believe it or not what I do know is that this is a money making exercise. Why do we the public need to know? He has done nothing but cause pain to his nephews.

whymadam · Today 09:07

Apparently, Spencer wasn't even on speaking terms with Diana at the time she died! The fact that Spencer only ever had 2 phone calls with BIL King Charles speaks volumes.