Charles Spencer Memoir Revives Diana Royal Controversy

Earl Spencer’s memoir, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister,” was due for worldwide publication on September 22 and has sparked controversy over disputed claims about Princess Diana’s marriage, death and funeral. Spencer alleges that King Charles sounded “giddily elated” after Diana’s death, later said she would soon be forgotten, and was not in love with Diana when they married; he also describes her distress over Charles’s relationship with Camilla. He claims he opposed Princes William and Harry walking behind Diana’s coffin, that royal officials rejected her reported wish for Mozart’s Requiem, and that Queen Elizabeth II offered to restore Diana’s HRH title on the day of the funeral, an offer he declined. Four copies of the memoir were stolen from a lorry parked overnight in the Netherlands while being transported from a Central European printer to a distribution warehouse, and Dutch police are investigating what publishers called a suspicious theft. Buckingham Palace said grief can cloud judgment and memory, while royal allies rejected Spencer’s account of Charles’s reaction; during a UK appearance, Prince Harry declined to comment on the memoir and said his return had been “eventful” as he focused on his work and family.