Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, has claimed in his new book that then-Prince Charles seemed “elated” after hearing of his ex-wife’s death.
Earl Spencer made the astonishing claim in a new excerpt of his book, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” published by the Daily Mail on Thursday.
“The phone rang constantly,” Spencer wrote after learning that Diana, 36, was killed in a high-speed car crash in Paris on Aug. 31, 1997. Prince William was 15, while Prince Harry was just 12 at the time.
“Prince Charles caught me as I crossed the landing upstairs,” he said. “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.”
Spencer said that the now-king shared that 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,” Spencer added.
“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,” Spencer wrote, in reference to Camilla Parker Bowles. “It can be hard to feel too much sympathy for an ex-spouse, or those who care for them profoundly, after bitter divorce.”
Spencer also claimed, “There were others in the Palace, I already knew, who were relieved – indeed, pleased – that she had gone.”
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In another excerpt of “Swan Song” published on Wednesday, Spencer wrote that during a different phone conversation with then-Prince Charles, the royal reportedly became upset at Spencer’s problems with the funeral arrangements.
“He 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!’” Spencer claimed the royal said.
Buckingham Palace issued an extraordinarily rare statement in response to that claim, telling HuffPost: “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 color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
Asked to comment on Spencer’s latest excerpt, a spokesperson told HuffPost on Thursday, “We have nothing further to add to our statement from yesterday.”
Spencer has said that “Swan Song,” which will be released on September 22, is “a brother’s simple tribute to an extraordinary sister.”
