Earl Spencer’s book about Princess Diana has shocked the nation before it has even hit shelves.
In his highly anticipated memoir, Swan Song: Diary, My Sister, the Earl has made bombshell allegations about King Charles’ conduct around his ex-wife Princess Diana up to and following her death.
Revelations from the book, currently being serialised by the Daily Mail before it is published next Tuesday, have so far focused on the King’s behaviour, from statements he made to Diana before their marriage to comments he made to the Earl before her funeral.
Prior to the serialisation, Buckingham Palace responded directly to the allegations, saying the King was mindful that “grief can cloud reason” in reference to the Earl.
Here are the bombshell allegations made in the memoir.
‘He sounded giddily elated’
Earl Spencer recalled a phone call with then-Prince Charles following the car crash that killed Diana in 1997, where it “all sounded strangely matter-of-fact”.
One passage read: “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.
“He let me know he had informed William and Harry of their mother’s death, first thing that morning, in their bedrooms at Balmoral.
“It all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster.
“Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.”
‘We’ll forget her soon enough’
Excerpts published on Thursday reveal further details about Charles’ alleged “stream of anger”, claiming the then-Prince of Wales accused him of having “no sense of duty” after arguing William and Harry should not walk behind the coffin.
The book read: “A few minutes later, my direct line rang again. It was Prince Charles, sounding markedly less upbeat than when we had last spoken, on the morning of Diana’s death.
“‘I gather you’ve got a problem with the funeral arrangements,’ he said testily.
“‘No, I don’t think so,’ I said, my mind on the structure of the service as it was coming together.
“‘But I gather you’ve said you don’t want William and Harry to walk behind Diana’s coffin.’
“‘Well, of course not, sir. Diana would never have wanted that.’
“‘But I did it at Lord Mountbatten’s funeral!’
“‘But you were 30, sir, and he wasn’t your mother.’
“He went nuts. ‘That’s the problem with your family. They’ve got no bloody sense of duty!’ he started, before descending into a general rage.”
Diana contemplated ‘ending it all’
In other passages of the book, Earl Spencer spoke of how his sister drove “more than once” to the cliffs at Beachy Head in East Sussex and was “contemplating ending it all”, adding that “her love for her sons stopped her from going further”.
The book reads: “It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all.
“Her love for her sons stopped her from going further.”
The Queen’s offer to restore her honorifics posthumously
The Earl wrote he rejected the late Queen’s “well-meaning” gesture to restore Diana’s HRH title posthumously as it felt like a “consolation award”. He claimed his sister was “dreadfully hurt” by the “petty and vindictive” decision to remove her title, and just hours after her funeral she offered to restore it.
“I felt that I knew in my bones how she would view this posthumous award,” he writes. “That’s very kind of the Queen, of course. But what’s the point, Robert? Now? I mean – Diana’s dead.”
He said that just hours after his eulogy at Diana’s funeral, the late Queen’s private secretary Robert Fellowes beckoned me to follow him into a quiet corner of the carriage.
“I have just received a call from Her Majesty… and she would like to offer Diana her HRH title back,” he wrote Mr Fellowes as saying.
While the Earl later wondered if he was right to reject the award, he felt “the title should never have been removed during her life, in which case it would not have been necessary to offer it to her in death.”
The King’s pre-wedding confession
The Earl also recalled that on the day of Diana’s world-famous wedding to Charles in July 1981, he visited her at Clarence House and found her “sitting quietly in front of a mirror”.
He wrote: “Only much later would I discover that, as she confided to a close friend, her husband-to-be had told her the previous day that she needed to know that he was very happy to marry her, but he was not actually in love with her.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI) or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
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