Diana’s brother accused Charles of insensitivity in his controversial new memoir about her life and death.
Diana’s brother accused Charles of insensitivity in his controversial new memoir (Image: Getty)
Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, has launched a war of words and reignited a bitter royal feud after accusing King Charles of making a heartless remark in the aftermath of Diana, Princess of Wales’s death. Writing in his upcoming memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Earl Spencer claims the then-Prince of Wales unleashed a “stream of anger” during a tense phone call about whether young Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin.
He alleges Charles said: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” However, Buckingham Palace has pushed back unusually strongly, attempting to cast doubt on his claims. “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,” it said.
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The row is said to have erupted over the princes’ involvement in their mother’s funeral procecession (Image: Getty)
The royal rebuke mirrors the late Queen Elizabeth’s famous “recollections may vary” response to Harry and Meghan’s interview with Oprah.
Earl Spencer claims a fiery row erupted when he insisted that Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, should not walk in their mother’s funeral procession. When a senior royal aide informed him that the young princes would join the parade, he replied: “That’s not going to happen”. Minutes later, the then-Prince of Wales called him directly to insist.
In the published excerpt, Earl Spencer claims Charles subjected him to a “stream of anger”: “He [Charles] 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. ‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’.”
Earl Spencer writes that he was left stunned by the remark: “I can’t believe you just said that, I said flatly, before hanging up.”
The row threatens to overshadow a very busy day for the royals – with the King, Prince William and Catherine, the Princess of Wales, attending events and Prince Harry attending the Invictus Spirit Awards – his first major appearance since returning to the UK.
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.”