By Angel No Lie | KPD Online | 17 September 2026 | Royal Family | United Kingdom

Buckingham Palace issues rare response

Buckingham Palace has made an unusually direct response to a claim by Earl Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana, concerning an alleged conversation with the then-Prince Charles shortly after Diana’s death in 1997.

The allegation appears in Spencer’s forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is due to be published on 22 September 2026. Spencer says that, during a dispute about whether Diana’s sons should walk behind their mother’s coffin, Charles told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”

Buckingham Palace did not directly confirm or deny that the conversation took place. Instead, a palace spokesperson said King Charles was mindful that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory” many years after a loss.

The wording represents a rare intervention by the Palace because the Royal Family generally declines to comment on claims contained in books.

Full Transcript of Princess Diana Eulogy – Earl Spencer’s Eulogy for Princess Diana

What Earl Spencer says happened

According to extracts reported from Spencer’s memoir, the disagreement took place in the period between Diana’s death and her funeral in September 1997.

The central issue was whether Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12 respectively, should walk behind their mother’s coffin during the funeral procession.

Spencer says he opposed the idea and believed Diana would not have wanted her young sons to endure such a public ordeal.

He describes a heated telephone conversation with Charles. According to Spencer’s account, Charles argued that his sons should participate and referred to his own experience walking in the funeral procession following the assassination of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten.

Spencer says he responded that Charles had been an adult when Mountbatten died, whereas William and Harry were children.

It was during the argument, Spencer claims, that Charles made the remark about Diana eventually being forgotten.

The allegation remains Spencer’s recollection

An important distinction is that the alleged conversation was private and occurred nearly three decades ago.

The Palace’s response does not provide a competing account of the conversation. Instead, it raises the possibility that Spencer’s recollection may have been affected by the grief surrounding his sister’s death.

There is therefore no independently established record in the reporting currently available that proves exactly what was said during the alleged telephone conversation.

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The decision to have William and Harry walk behind Diana’s coffin

The dispute described by Spencer concerns one of the most memorable moments of Diana’s funeral.

On 6 September 1997, William and Harry walked behind their mother’s coffin as it travelled from St James’s Palace to Westminster Abbey.

The decision has subsequently been discussed by both brothers.

In a 2017 BBC documentary marking the 20th anniversary of Diana’s death, William described the decision as a collective family decision and acknowledged that it had not been easy.

Harry later discussed the experience in his 2023 memoir, Spare. His account included his recollection that several adults had objected to the boys walking behind the coffin, including Spencer.

This provides some contemporary retrospective context for Spencer’s newly published account, although it does not independently establish the exact words Spencer attributes to Charles.

Why the Palace’s statement is significant

The Palace’s response is notable primarily because of its rarity.

Royal households traditionally avoid becoming involved in disputes surrounding books about members of the Royal Family. ITV reported that the Palace decided to respond in this instance despite that general practice.

The statement also carefully avoids directly accusing Spencer of deliberately fabricating his account.

Instead, it focuses on the possible effects of grief on memory and judgment.

That distinction matters. The Palace has not publicly produced evidence demonstrating that Spencer’s account is false, while Spencer presents the conversation as his personal recollection of events.

Spencer’s stated purpose for writing the book

Spencer has said that his purpose in writing Swan Song is to provide an account of Diana from the perspective of her brother.

Before publication, he said:

“The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective.”

He also connected the project with the eulogy he delivered at Diana’s funeral, saying he wanted to speak on her behalf.

The book is expected to address Diana’s marriage to Charles, her relationship with the Royal Family and events surrounding her death and funeral.

Diana’s death and the continuing public interest

Diana died on 31 August 1997, aged 36, after the Mercedes carrying her and Dodi Al-Fayed crashed in the Pont de l’Alma tunnel in Paris while being pursued by photographers.

Her death generated an enormous public reaction in Britain and internationally.

Nearly three decades later, memories of the events surrounding her death and funeral remain subjects of considerable public interest. Spencer’s memoir is therefore likely to reopen discussions about a period that remains emotionally significant for members of the Royal Family and the wider public.

What is known and what is disputed?

Issue	Current evidence
Diana died in Paris in August 1997	Established fact
William and Harry walked behind Diana’s coffin	Established fact
Spencer opposed the boys’ participation	Documented in retrospective accounts
Spencer says Charles told him Diana would be forgotten	Claim made in Spencer’s memoir
Palace confirms Charles said those words	No
Palace says Spencer fabricated the account	No
Palace says grief can affect memory and judgment	Yes
The private conversation can be independently reconstructed	Not established from currently reported evidence
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister publication date	22 September 2026

A dispute over memory, not just history

At the heart of the controversy is a question that extends beyond the Royal Family: how reliable are memories formed during periods of extreme emotional distress, particularly decades later?

Spencer was Diana’s brother and was directly involved in the events surrounding her funeral. His account therefore represents the recollection of someone who was personally present during that period.

At the same time, the Palace has pointed to the potential influence of grief on recollection and judgment. Its statement does not establish that Spencer’s memory is inaccurate, but it makes clear that the King does not accept the account without qualification.

The disagreement is consequently about both what happened in 1997 and how that history should now be remembered.

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What happens next?

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is scheduled for publication on 22 September. More extracts are expected to emerge before the book’s release, potentially providing additional details about Spencer’s recollections of Diana, Charles and the aftermath of her death.

For now, the central allegation remains an account presented by Diana’s brother, while Buckingham Palace has responded with a carefully worded challenge focused on the effects of grief and memory.

The wider historical context

Diana’s death triggered one of the most intense periods of public mourning in modern British history.

Her popularity had already made her an unusually prominent member of the royal family. Following her death, public attention focused heavily on the royal family’s response, including the arrangements for the funeral and the decision to have her sons walk behind her coffin.

Spencer’s 1997 eulogy was itself a major moment in the public response to Diana’s death.

His new memoir therefore revisits events that have already been extensively discussed, but from the perspective of someone who was both Diana’s brother and one of the people directly involved in the funeral arrangements.

Photos | Ten facts about Britain’s Princess Diana, who died 25 years ago today | News24

Independent assessment

The current dispute is fundamentally about a private memory of an emotionally charged event.

Earl Spencer presents a detailed recollection of a conversation with Charles in which he says the then-Prince of Wales made a deeply insensitive comment about Diana’s future place in public memory.

Buckingham Palace has not publicly supplied a competing transcript or detailed account of the conversation. Instead, it has pointed to the possibility that grief can affect memory and judgment.

Consequently, the available evidence does not independently establish the alleged words as fact, nor does the Palace’s statement independently establish that Spencer’s recollection is wrong.

The most accurate distinction at this stage is therefore:

Spencer says it happened. The Palace has challenged the reliability of the recollection without publicly providing a detailed alternative account.

The publication of Swan Song may bring additional context, including Spencer’s fuller account of the events and any contemporary evidence he believes supports his recollection.

Akhbarak (@akhbarak) on X

Sources

The report is based primarily on current reporting from Reuters, BBC/ABC News, Sky News, The Guardian and The Independent, with the claims attributed to Earl Spencer or Buckingham Palace rather than presented as independently established facts.