Earl Spencer says King Charles told him "we'll forget her soon enough" days after Diana died. Uncomfortable truth, or a claim the King never confirmed?
Spencer insists "those are exactly the words he said." Buckingham Palace's response didn't deny it, instead suggesting grief has clouded Spencer's memory — a move one royal commentator called "a terribly misguided mistake."
What happened
In his new memoir 'Swan Song,' Diana's brother Charles, Earl Spencer, wrote that then-Prince Charles told him in a phone call days after Diana's 1997 death, "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough!" Spencer has publicly stood by the claim, telling the BBC "I'm telling the truth" and "those are exactly the words he said." Buckingham Palace issued a statement questioning Spencer's recollection without explicitly denying the King said it.
Why people disagree
Spencer says he told family and friends about the comment immediately because it was "so monstrous," and journalist Richard Kay says his own contemporary notes support Spencer's account. Royal commentator Richard Eden argued the Palace's non-denial response was itself a mistake, since it neither confirmed nor firmly rejected the claim. Others see the story as an unfair attack on the King decades later, especially with no evidence beyond Spencer's memory of a private call.
What's still unclear
There's no independent recording or corroboration of the private 1997 phone call, so the dispute ultimately comes down to Spencer's word against a Palace statement that never issued a flat denial.
Sources
More takes
Two Knicks players named Taylor Swift the team's fakest celebrity fan, calling her courtside visits a little performative. Fair comment, or a cheap shot?
Martha Stewart has apologised twice for dressing as a homeless person for Halloween, in a post promoting her candles. Fair backlash, or an overreaction?
