'We'll Forget Her Soon Enough': Earl Spencer Claims Charles Said After Diana's Death as Palace Hits Back

King Charles allegedly told Earl Spencer 'we'll forget her soon enough' about Diana, Princess of Wales, in a heated phone call days after her death in 1997, Spencer claims in his forthcoming memoir.

The allegation appears in an extract from 'Swan Song: Diana, My Sister', serialised by the Daily Mail ahead of its UK publication on 22 September by Penguin Michael Joseph, part of Penguin Random House.

'We'll Forget Her Soon Enough'

According to Spencer, the argument erupted over whether Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, should walk behind their mother's coffin through London. Spencer says he objected to the palace's plans on the grounds that Diana 'would not have wanted it'.

He writes that Charles, then Prince of Wales, rang him directly and '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,' before allegedly telling him: 'Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough.'

Palace Responds to Spencer's Account

Buckingham Palace has responded to Spencer's account, issuing a rare statement after the extract was published.

A spokesperson said the palace does 'not comment on books as a matter of principle', but added that the King was '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'.

The statement does not directly dispute Spencer's account but refers to the possibility that grief can affect memory and judgement.

The publisher describes the memoir as an attempt to correct 'untruths that have become accepted' about Diana's life, her marriage to Charles, and the aftermath of her death in a Paris car crash on 31 August 1997.

William and Harry's Funeral Procession

Spencer's memoir also revisits the moment William and Harry walked behind their mother's coffin, an image that has come to define the week of her funeral. He writes that a senior palace aide told him the boys would join the procession despite his objections.

In a 2017 BBC documentary, William described the decision for the brothers to join the funeral procession as a collective family decision, while saying it was not an easy decision.

Spencer has said he wants the book to continue the eulogy he delivered at Diana's funeral in Westminster Abbey, again 'speaking on Diana's behalf' so that younger readers who never knew her can understand her as, in his words, a 'one-off, dynamic character, full of love, charisma and self-doubt.'

Book Theft Sparks Dutch Police Probe

The book has already drawn attention beyond its contents. Dutch police are investigating the theft of four copies of the Dutch-language edition from a lorry in the Netherlands, the Daily Mail reported and the BBC confirmed.

The driver discovered the copies missing on Monday morning, and publishers were informed later that day. A publishing source described the theft as 'extremely suspicious', saying security around the release had been 'incredibly tight'.

Penguin Random House UK publishing director Daniel Bunyard called 'Swan Song' 'a book of historic importance', saying Spencer's position as Diana's brother allows for 'remarkably candid' reflection 'without rancour'. The book is due to be published in the UK on 22 September.

Almost 30 years after Diana's death, Spencer's memoir revisits the events surrounding her death, funeral and legacy.