Charles Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, has recounted a phone call with the then Prince of Wales, Charles, that took place during funeral preparations in 1997. According to the earl, the future king said: "Be assured, we will soon forget her." This is reported by infohub.kz.
Spencer opposed the idea of Diana's sons, 15-year-old Prince William and 12-year-old Prince Harry, walking behind their mother's coffin during the crowded funeral procession. In the earl's view, Diana would not have wanted her children subjected to such a public ordeal. These details appear in excerpts from Spencer's book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, published by the Daily Mail, The Guardian, and The Independent.
Spencer writes that a senior aide to Queen Elizabeth II informed him of the decision to include William and Harry in the procession. The earl replied that this would not happen, after which he received a call from the then Prince of Wales, Charles. The future king reminded him that he himself had walked in the funeral procession after the death of his great-uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten in 1979. Spencer countered that Charles had been 30 at the time, while his sons were still teenagers. The prince, as the book claims, then flew into a rage.
"Prince Charles continued to vent his anger, and I did not interrupt him. Then he stopped," Spencer writes. He thought the other man was trying to compose himself, but after a pause, he allegedly said: "Be assured, we will soon forget her." According to the earl, he was so shocked that he could only respond after a few seconds. "I cannot believe you just said that," Spencer said, before hanging up.
Buckingham Palace, in response, cast doubt on the account in the book. "While we do not comment on books in principle, His Majesty understands that the pain of losing a sister can cloud judgment, influence decisions, and color memories in ways others do not notice, even many years after such a loss," the palace statement said, according to Sky News.
Recall that Diana died in a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997. Her funeral was held on September 6 at Westminster Abbey. William and Harry ultimately walked behind their mother's coffin alongside their father, grandfather Prince Philip, and Charles Spencer. At the ceremony, the earl delivered a speech in which he criticized the press's treatment of his sister and promised to protect her sons. In his new memoir, he aims to correct what he says was untrue information spread about Diana and to recount the events of the week after her death.
The book will be published on September 22 by Penguin Michael Joseph. The Daily Mail begins publishing excerpts on September 17. We previously reported that Princess Diana's "revenge dress" will be auctioned for the first time in 30 years.