A royal author has taken aim at Charles Spencer and his latest allegations in his new book.
Earl Spencer has been accused of joining forces with Prince Harry in a bid to “damage” the King with his explosive new book about Princess Diana. The late Princess of Wales’s brother is said to have forged an alliance with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex as his incendiary memoir ignites a bitter new royal war.
In an interview with GB News, royal author Tom Bower said: “[Earl Spencer] is not only selling a book, but he’s also undoubtedly formed an alliance with Harry and with the Duchess to somehow damage the King.” On Friday evening, Charles Spencer defended himself following the furore, insisting that “he’s telling the truth”. He sparked controversy this week after he claimed in the book that the King, then Prince of Wales, told him, “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough,” following his sister’s death in 1997.
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Charles Spencer released a series of allegations about the royals (Image: Getty)
In his first comment since, Earl Spencer stood firmly by his account, insisting: “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.”
Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Friday evening, Diana’s brother branded the King’s alleged remark “monstrous” and doubled down on his version of events.
He recalled: “(The King) went ballistic, would be the right term, and started really going for my family as a whole, about their sense of duty, not being adequate enough, and ranted for a while, I have no idea how long, but it was a significant period, and I just listened.”
“And then he stopped, and I thought, ‘Oh now he’s gonna pull himself together and say something more appropriate’, and then he said, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’.”
Earl Spencer added: “I really was so stunned, and I just, after a stunned silence, I said, ‘I cannot believe you just said that’, and I hung up on him.”
Regarding any “evidence” about the bombshell comments, the earl said: “I told friends and family straight away, close friends and family, about what had been said, because it was so monstrous. I’m telling the truth.”
Earl Spencer is releasing a book (Image: BBC)
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister saw parts of it being serialised this week, featuring a fresh string of bombshell allegations about the royals and reopening old wounds over the aftermath of Diana’s death.
Prince Harry and Prince William’s mother died in a car crash in Paris in August 1997.
Royal commentator Mr Bower fiercely rejected Spencer’s account of the King’s reaction to Diana’s death, dismissing claims that Charles sounded “giddily elated” as “complete rubbish”.
He said: “When I wrote my book about Charles, Rebel Prince, I had impeccable sources in Balmoral and all sorts of things, and I called some of them today, and all of them united in saying that Charles was in real grief.
“The idea that he would even say ‘rest assured’ that bit – but the idea was giddily elated, is complete rubbish. The man was absolutely smitten. He was horrified. He was frozen.
“So I think it’s rather sad that Charles Spencer, who I had great regard for as a historian, should be doing this. But then Prince Harry did the same with his biography. I think it’s money troubles, personal troubles.”
Prince Harry is understood to have been aware of the book (Image: Getty)
It is understood that Prince Harry was aware of the book before its release but not of its contents. He reportedly discussed it with his uncle at Althorp, the Spencer family’s 13,000-acre Northamptonshire estate, in July.
The publication comes weeks after the Sussexes returned to Britain following six years in California, with Archie, seven, and Lilibet, five, now enrolled in British schools.
The author further noted that Charles Spencer’s book is published by the same publisher as Prince Harry’s memoir, Spare – Penguin Books.
He said: “They want headlines, which they’ve got. But I think it’s more serious than that. The return of Harry and Meghan is heading towards a crisis. They haven’t declared why they’re here. They haven’t declared what they’re how long they’ll stay.
“Their object is not only to ingratiate themselves with the Royal Family, but to cause trouble. And there’s no doubt that Harry knew that Spencer was going to bring out this book. It was a pincer movement.”
Veteran royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams echoed the sentiment, saying it was all “planned”.
He told the Daily Express: “I believe what was planned was a pincer movement to blindside the Royal Family.
“It’s all been planned. The biography shows the King, when Prince Charles, in the worst possible light.
“It is essential that the Palace let this disreputable tract masquerading as a biography have a few more days of sensation, and say nothing, however horrible its contents.”
Among further revelations, Spencer claimed that “in her later years” Diana drove to Beachy Head in East Sussex, intending to end her life, but stopped because of her love for her sons.
The earl also alleged that the late Queen Elizabeth II considered restoring his sister’s Her Royal Highness title, which she lost when she divorced Charles and blasted the “lack of care” towards Harry during Diana’s funeral in his latest allegations against the royals.
Buckingham Palace delivered a pointed response to the memoir on Wednesday.
A Palace spokesman 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.” No further response to the allegations has been released.
Elsewhere in the BBC interview, the earl said: “I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life.
“I was hyper alert to what he was saying and those are precisely the words that he said and I promise that to you now.’
He suggested Buckingham Palace has not denied that the King told him “rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough”, telling Ms Kuenssberg: “They haven’t actually (denied the claims), Laura, they’ve sort of smudged that one, haven’t they? They’ve said recollections may vary.”
Diana’s brother even questioned whether His Majesty is feeling “embarrassed” or “furious”.
A spokesperson for Prince Harry was contacted for comment.
Charles Spencer’s new bombshell book is out next week.
Andy Burnham accused of ‘fiddling’ while Putin threatens to ‘burn Europe’
Kemi Badenoch has urged Burnham to ‘get serious’ as ‘Europe is at risk of burning’
Putin ‘threatens to burn Europe’ (Image: Getty)
Kemi Badenoch has demanded Andy Burnham to “get serious” as “Europe is at risk of burning” with the latest threats from Putin. The Tory leader accused the Prime Minister of “fiddling” while the continent faces escalating aggression, as former military chiefs sound the alarm over the increasing threats facing Britain.
Mrs Badenoch told The Telegraph: “Our Government is fiddling while Europe is at risk of burning. In France and Poland, leaders are taking action now against the growing Russian threat.
“What is our Government doing? Has anyone heard from Wes Streeting, the former head of the National Union of Students, who has rocked up as Defence Secretary?”
She added: “We have to stop pretending that we are living in a carefree end of history when Russia is testing our resolve week after week. It’s time to get serious.”
Mrs Badenoch told the Telegraph: “Our Government is fiddling while Europe is at risk of burning” (Image: Getty)
The Leader of the Opposition hit out at Mr Burnham for sending a “dangerous” message that he would not cut welfare to fund the military – a signal she warned was “heard loud and clear in Moscow as well as Manchester.” The Conservatives have intensified their attacks on welfare spending after the Prime Minister recently stated that national security cannot “come at the expense of social security”.
Downing Street insisted Mr Burnham remains committed to both funding the armed forces and bringing down the benefits bill, though not through “crude cuts”.
Former military leaders backed calls for urgent rearmament. Admiral Lord West, the former First Sea Lord and Gordon Brown’s security minister, warned that Britain’s military is in “quite a parlous state.”
“In many ways, one could argue we are already at war. We are certainly in the grey zone – whether it’s cyber attacks, drones getting near the edge of somewhere or threats to underwater cables,” Lord West said.
The Prime Minister has been told to ‘get serious’ as threats from Russia escalate (Image: Getty)
Former chief of the general staff Lord Dannatt urged Chancellor John Healey to set out a clear path to 3.5% of GDP on defence at the upcoming Budget, adding: “My bottom line is that Andy Burnham, and regretfully I would now add John Healey, are playing fast and loose with the nation’s security”.
While the UK has promised to reach 3.5% of national income for defence by 2035, in line with NATO pledges, the Government’s current budget only raises spending to 2.7% by 2027-28, facing mounting pressure to explain how further targets will be met. Mrs Badenoch has pledged to raise defence spending to 3% of GDP by 2030 by capping housing benefit to raise £4 billion – a proposal the Prime Minister claims would cause unprecedented levels of homelessness. The Tories rejected those claims, suggesting claimants would instead need to “move somewhere cheaper.”
A Foreign Office spokesperson defended the Government’s record, stating: “These threats from Russia are yet another attempt to distract from their barbaric invasion of Ukraine.
“We have been clear that Russia’s hybrid attacks are egregious and unacceptable. That’s why we have taken tough action to respond to Russia’s intensifying hostile activity against our continent – increasing defence spending, expelling intelligence officers, sanctioning the GRU, cracking down on illicit finance networks, and ensuring Russia’s criminal proxies are disrupted and brought to justice.
“The UK is united with our allies on the importance of defending ourselves, and Russia’s aggression will not deter us from supporting Ukraine.”