Earl Spencer, the late Princess Diana’s younger brother, claimed the monarch was “giddily elated like a lottery winner” after news emerged of her tragic passing.
Charles Spencer (Image: Getty)
A Buckingham Palace source has hit back against shocking claims made by Earl Spencer about King Charles’s reaction to the death of Princess Diana, asking, “Why now?” Charles Spencer, a British peer, is the younger brother of Diana, King Charles’s first wife, who died on August 31, 1997.
The Princess, who is the mother of his eldest son and future King, Prince William, as well as Prince Harry, died from injuries sustained in a car crash in Paris, sparking a global outpouring of grief. Her boyfriend at the time, Dodi Fayed, and the driver were also killed. The royal’s bodyguard was badly injured but survived. Earl Spencer, 62, has now claimed in a soon-to-be-released memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, that the monarch was “giddily elated like a lottery winner” in a phone call to him after news emerged of Diana’s tragic passing.
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The Earl also alleged in the book, which is being serialised by the Daily Mail, that the then Prince of Wales’ reaction “must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved (Camilla)”.
But a source quoted by The Sun rubbished the claims, saying footage from the time clearly showed the King was in deep grief in the wake of the news, and travelled to Paris himself to bring her coffin back to the UK.
They also cast doubt on the motivations and timing of the Earl’s comments. They said the King “fought for Diana to have a ceremonial funeral against all protocols because she was the mother of the future King and in response to the overwhelming public grief”.
“The footage and actions speak for themselves, and one has to question why these allegations are surfacing now and whether they are being aired for money,” they added.
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Earl Spencer is thought to remain close with his nephew Prince Harry, who is understood to have been aware of the book but not what it contained, The Guardian reports.
The Palace has not responded to the claims in the latest excerpt from the memoir.
It comes after Earl Spencer alleged in a previous excerpt that Charles had said during a phone call with him just days after Diana’s death that she would be forgotten “soon enough”.
In response to that allegation, a Palace spokesperson said: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is 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 Daily Telegraph quoted a source close to the monarch who said the alleged comment was “just not in his nature and it certainly wasn’t in his nature at that time, when he was a man absolutely grief-stricken”.
The Earl’s memoir will be released on Tuesday, September 22.
The Reform UK leader hit out at the Archbishop of Canterbury over the furore.
Nigel Farage erupted at the Archbishop of Canterbury in a row over her giving an award to a Muslim cleric who praised Osama bin Laden. Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi received the honour for reconciliation and interfaith cooperation last week on the anniversary of 9/11.
But Dame Sarah Mullally was forced to withdraw the award following a backlash after it emerged he praised the mastermind of the terror attacks in comments made in 2007. Speaking on his GB News show, the Reform UK leader said: “Every time we get a new Archbishop I think it must get better, it doesn’t, it gets worse.”
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Mr Farage added: “Why oh why is the Archbishop of Canterbury giving an award to a man who praised Osama bin Laden just a few years after the Twin Towers?”
Mr Ashrafi, the chairman of the Pakistan Ulema Council which is a group of Islamic scholars, received the award “for his outstanding work as an ambassador of interfaith harmony in Pakistan”.
But the honour sparked a backlash after past comments emerged that he made about Bin Laden.
Speaking after The Satanic Versus author Sir Salman Rushdie was knighted in 2007, Mr Ashrafi said: “We are pleased to award the title of Saifullah [sword of God] to Osama bin Laden after the British government’s decision to bestow the title of ‘Sir’ on blasphemer Rushdie. This is the highest title for a Muslim warrior.
“If a blasphemer can be given the title ‘Sir’ by the West despite the fact he’s hurt the feelings of Muslims, then a mujahid who has been fighting for Islam against the Russians, Americans and British must be given the lofty title of Islam, Saifullah.”
Lambeth Palace said in a statement yesterday that the award had been withdrawn.
It said: “The award was given for Imam Ashrafi’s longstanding support for religious minorities in Pakistan, particularly the Christian community – support that is valued by many Christians in Pakistan including its Anglican Church.
“It is a longstanding principle of interfaith dialogue and co-operation that we must engage with one another across deeply-held differences, and that remains the case.
“However, previous comments made by Imam Ashrafi have come to light that have led Lambeth Palace to reconsider this award and we can now confirm today that the award has been withdrawn. We have contacted Imam Ashrafi to make him aware of this decision.”
A spokesman for Mr Ashrafi and his council said his remarks had been taken “out of context”.
He said: “Our position against terrorism, extremism, suicide attacks and the killing of innocent people is clear and unequivocal. We have consistently worked for peace, moderation and interfaith harmony.”
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