Earl Spencer claims he “told people”, including US news anchor Barbara Walters, of the explosive allegation that the King said “we’ll forget her soon enough” in the wake of Diana’s death.
Charles Spencer, the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, said he shared the remark in 1997 with trailblazing journalist and broadcaster Walters, who died in 2022.
The earl claims Charles made the comments about his ex-wife in a row over whether the then Prince William and Prince Harry should follow Diana’s funeral cortege.
The allegation about the monarch, which features in the earl’s new book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, prompted an “unprecedented” response from Buckingham Palace, which said, “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason”.
But on Monday, while speaking to Gayle King on CBS Mornings, he said: “I know, I heard that… I told people at the time. I told Barbara Walters, actually, at the time.
“But they have to gaslight. They have to sort of pretend there’s something wrong with my mind or my memory. There’s nothing wrong with either.”
In a 2017 interview with Newsweek, Harry said about Diana’s funeral: “My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television.
“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”
He also revealed the Duke of Sussex asked him after the release of the book whether there was anything that would embarrass him.
“Harry was sort of like, ‘Is there anything in there that would be embarrassing to me?’. I said ‘absolutely not’. I’m very specific about people’s privacy,” the earl said.
The controversial memoir, released ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death next year, had made headlines around the world for its string of allegations against the King.
It also alleges Charles, then the Prince of Wales, “sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner” when he spoke to the earl after the princess’s death.
In response to the claims made in the memoir, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
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