Earl Spencer defends Diana book claims
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What does Earl Spencer claim about his phone call with King Charles after Diana’s death?
The Claire Byrne Show on News Talk. With Aviva Insurance.
Princess Diana's brother has told the BBC that he's telling the truth about a phone call with Britain's King Charles in the days after his sister's death. Let's take a listen to part of the interview with the BBC's Laura Koonsberg.
He went ballistic would be the right term and started really going for my family as a whole about their sense of duty not being adequate enough. and ranted for a while. I have no idea how long, but it was a significant period, and I just listened. And then he stopped and I thought, oh now, now he's going to pull himself together and say something more appropriate. And then he said, We'll forget her soon enough.
What went through your mind?
Well, I'm not sure I can say exactly what went through my mind, but I really was so stunned. And I just after a stunned silence, I said I cannot believe you just said that, and I hung up on him.
You know. That Buckingham Palace has already said. with a degree of fury. That that didn't happen. I don't know.
It just happened actually, Laura.
How does the King’s alleged response to the phone call shape the controversy?
They've sort of smudged that one, haven't they? They've said that recollections may vary.
Well let me read you exactly what the palace has said. They said His Majesty is mindful of That the pain of fraternal grief Can cloud reason? affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss. The king is plainly furious. Buckingham Palace almost never issues any kind of statement. Well is he furious
or is he embarrassed? Because I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said. I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life. I was hyper alert to what he was saying. And those are precisely the words he said. And I promise that to you now. Genuinely, that is what he said. I don't hear him saying he didn't say that. Did you
Write it down? Did you keep a diary? Do you have evidence that that is what he said at the time? Because To be fair, this was a time of massive shock and emotion for for both of you.
I told friends and family straight away, close fri friends and family about what had been said 'cause it was so monstrous.
Which charles are the public meant to believe? Are they to believe you? Or they to believe the king, the head of state of this country, who's giving the impression very forcefully. That this didn't happen. Who are we to believe?
What evidence does Spencer provide to prove he heard the King’s exact words?
Well, I'm telling the truth.
Well Charles Spencer also talked about King Charles having a giddy tone when Princess Diana died.
I remember picking up the telephone. I was upstairs in my house in Cape Town, and he was telling me how he had told the boys, William and Harry, at Balmoral and broken the news to them. And I'd I uh I felt, as I say in the book actually, I felt there was a sort of giddy tone. I'd had a lot of calls that day from people who cared, who were stunned, like we all were. I just felt there was a a lightness in his tone about Diana's death that really jarred with me.
You write that he was giddily elated. Like a lottery winner. I mean you're suggesting he was somehow pleased that his former wife was dead.
Well I'm reporting every word in this book I report exactly as I saw it and felt it at the time, and I was surprised at the giddiness of his tone. That's what I'm recording there.
It's an incredibly damning thing to say though about his reaction to the death of the mother of his children and you go on to write I suspect the prince's reaction Must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved. rather than appreciating the loss of the one he did not. You're suggesting there in black and white. That the now king felt that Diana's death was Rather convenient because he would be able to marry Camilla.
That is how I felt at the time from the tone of his voice. So I've only ever had two calls from him, and they were both around this time. One was on that day of Diana's death and one was a couple of days later.
But are you sure That's what he was thinking. I mean she's a sort of thing.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What does Earl Spencer claim about his phone call with King Charles after Diana’s death?
0:01–1:23
2
How does the King’s alleged response to the phone call shape the controversy?
1:23–2:58
3
What evidence does Spencer provide to prove he heard the King’s exact words?
2:58–4:54
4
Why does Spencer describe the King’s tone as ‘giddy’ when discussing Diana’s death?
4:54–7:02
5
What motives might Spencer have for publishing these claims now?
7:02–8:56
6
How are the Spencer‑Windsor family dynamics influencing the Harry‑Meghan narrative?
8:56–11:16
7
What does the discussion reveal about Diana’s lasting legacy and public memory?
11:16–13:19
8
How does the episode conclude with Spencer’s final reflections on his ‘swan song’?
13:19–13:52