‘Those are exactly the words he said’

Charles Spencer has defended the claims that he made against King Charles in his new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. In a new interview with the BBC, he said that he was “telling the truth” in a series of allegations against the monarch.

One of the most shocking claims from Diana’s brother concerned Charles’ reaction to Diana’s death. The Earl wrote: “I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!'”

In a separate passage, the Earl claimed that Charles had sounded “giddily elated”. He wrote: “Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.”

There has been a backlash to the Earl’s version of events, and Buckingham Palace said in a statement: “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.”

However, in his interview with the BBC, Earl Spencer defended his version of events. “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said,” he told Laura Kuennsberg. On the Palace’s statement, he added: “Well, is he furious? Is he furious or is he embarrassed? They’ve sort of smudged that one, haven’t they? They’ve said that recollections may vary.”

He continued: “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 that 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.”

What else has Charles Spencer said in the book?

Elsewhere in the book, which is due to be released next week, the Earl said that Diana wanted to divorce the then Prince of Wales as she believed he was “in love with his valet”.

“I was silent for a moment. I had known things were bad, but not this bad,” the Earl penned. “‘Well, Duch’ I carefully replied, ‘you of course have my full support… I know you’ll have thought this through. But my main worry is the public. I fear they won’t forgive you.

“They’ve bought into a fairytale, and I reckon they may ­well – wrongly – blame you for destroying their fantasy.’ She looked up at me, nodded, and said quietly: ‘But, Carlos, my husband is in love with his valet.’

“I gulped. ‘Well, I guess, in that case, you really don’t have a choice.’ She did not name the member of staff, and I never asked her who it was, or why she would believe such an improbable thing. It was not important: the end of her marriage, and of her dreams, was.”