Charles Spencer Claims King Charles Was Elated After Diana's Death

Earl Spencer is making headlines with some of the most damaging allegations about the royal family in decades. In his upcoming memoir “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” Diana’s brother claims that King Charles appeared surprisingly upbeat when learning of his ex-wife’s death in 1997.

According to Spencer’s account, Prince Charles called him shortly after Diana died in a high-speed car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997. While other callers were shocked and struggling to express their condolences, Spencer says Charles sounded “giddily elated, like a lottery winner.”

A Troubling Phone Call

Spencer’s description of that conversation is particularly jarring. He recalls Charles mentioning that he had already informed Princes William and Harry of their mother’s death that morning at Balmoral. Spencer found the manner of this announcement strangely detached, given the magnitude of what had just happened.

What makes Spencer’s claim even more pointed is his interpretation of Charles’s emotional state. The earl suggests that rather than mourning the loss of his ex-wife, Charles may have been thinking about how her death would free him to marry Camilla Parker Bowles, his longtime mistress at the time. This interpretation cuts to the heart of what many observers have long suspected about the royal family’s priorities.

Spencer doubles down on these allegations with another stunning claim. He says Charles once told him during a separate conversation about funeral arrangements: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” According to Spencer, Charles delivered this line with a “hiss,” suggesting buried contempt for Diana and shock at how the public responded to her death.

The Palace Fires Back

Buckingham Palace rarely responds to such allegations, but Spencer’s claims were apparently serious enough to warrant a statement. The palace released an unusually candid response, essentially suggesting that Spencer’s grief and pain might be clouding his judgment and affecting his memory. “His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,” the statement read.

It’s a diplomatic but pointed pushback. The palace is suggesting that while they understand Spencer’s suffering, his recollections may not be entirely reliable. This is the kind of subtle character questioning that only the royal family can pull off.

A Broader Pattern

What makes Spencer’s allegations particularly compelling is that he’s not the only person suggesting tension between Charles and Diana’s memory. Spencer also claims that others within the palace were relieved or even pleased by her death. This suggests a broader pattern of people within royal circles wanting to move past Diana and what she represented.

Spencer’s new memoir hits shelves on September 22, and he’s framed it as simply “a brother’s tribute to an extraordinary sister.” Yet the excerpts being published paint a far more complicated picture of how the royal family handled one of the most shocking moments in modern British history.

The timing of these revelations is worth considering. Diana has been gone for more than 25 years, and her sons are now grown men with families of their own. Yet the narratives surrounding her death, and particularly how the royals responded to it, remain remarkably contested. Spencer’s willingness to go on record with these claims, backed by a major publisher, suggests he feels the record needs correcting.

Regardless of whether the palace’s explanation holds water, the fact remains that Spencer is presenting a radically different portrait of Charles’s character than the carefully managed image the royal family has cultivated over decades. Whether readers find his account credible or believe the palace’s rebuttal may say more about their existing views of the monarchy than anything else.

Source: HuffPost