Charles III 'said exactly that,' Diana's brother insists, rebuffing palace denial

Diana's younger brother, Charles Spencer, has pushed back against Buckingham Palace's denial of claims that King Charles III made a cutting remark about Princess Diana shortly after her death.

Spencer insists his account is true, keeping the dispute alive.

"What I can tell you here and now is that he said exactly that," Spencer told the BBC on Friday. "I am telling the truth," he added, according to Yonhap.

Excerpts from Spencer's forthcoming memoir, released ahead of publication, allege that in 1997, shortly after Diana's death, Charles III snapped at Spencer during a phone call over a disagreement about funeral arrangements: "Don't worry. We'll soon forget her."

Buckingham Palace responded to the initial excerpts with an unusually forceful statement, suggesting Spencer's "grief had clouded his reason, affected his judgment and distorted his memory."

Spencer rebuffed that framing, asking whether Charles III was "angry or embarrassed," and accusing the palace of obscuring the substance of the matter by implying that memories can simply differ.

"In my entire life I have spoken to him on the phone only twice," Spencer said. "I was listening very carefully to what he was saying, and that is exactly what he said."

He added that the remark had been so "monstrous" that he shared it with family members and friends at the time.

According to the memoir excerpts, Spencer was so stunned by the comment that it took him several seconds to respond. He then told Charles III, "I can't believe you said that," before hanging up.

The memoir also alleges that when Spencer objected to having Princes William and Harry walk in the funeral procession, Charles III lashed out at his former in-laws, saying it was "your family's problem" and that they had "not a shred of a sense of duty."

Diana's brother's memoir stirs controversy

King Charles III and Princess Diana [Getty Images]

In his memoir, Spencer also claims that Charles III reacted to the news of Diana's death with an elation resembling someone who had won the lottery, the BBC reported Thursday (local time).

Spencer recalled in the book receiving the news of Diana's death by phone in the middle of the night on Aug. 31, 1997, at his home in Cape Town, South Africa.

He said that shortly after learning of her death, he received a call from Charles III, then the Prince of Wales, whose voice he described as strikingly buoyant.

"Unlike others who were too shocked to offer condolences or even find words, his voice was elated — like someone who had just won the lottery," Spencer wrote. "That is what I remember thinking at the time."

The memoir also touches on Diana's troubled marriage.

Spencer recalled being told by one of Diana's friends that Charles III had said to Diana on the eve of their wedding: "I'm glad we're getting married, but I don't love you."

Spencer wrote that the early years of the marriage must have been deeply difficult, and that "both of them must have felt desperately hopeless about each other."

Spencer also wrote that Charles III insisted on having William and Harry — then just 15 and 12 years old — walk in the funeral procession in an effort to shield himself from what Spencer described as a torrent of abuse from the crowds.

Spencer said that when he objected — arguing that Diana would not have wanted her young sons to walk behind her coffin — Charles III unleashed what Spencer described as long-suppressed contempt for Diana and fear that the world would be devastated by her death, before snapping: "Don't worry. We'll soon forget her."

A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said the king "is mindful that grief over the loss of a sibling can cloud reason, affect judgment and distort memory," adding that "after many years since such a loss, one may not be aware of those effects."

The statement was widely read as suggesting Spencer's grief over losing his sister had impaired his recollection.

The statement itself was notable for its rarity. While books and press reports about the British royal family are plentiful, Buckingham Palace operates on a principle of never complaining and never explaining, making public responses of this kind extremely uncommon.

Diana, beloved not only in Britain but around the world, died at the age of 36.

yul@heraldcorp.com