Princess Diana's Brother Reopens a Royal Family Rift

Caption: Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, in December 2017. Credit: Edwardx / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer is publicly standing by claims in his new memoir after Buckingham Palace issued a rare response questioning his recollection of events surrounding Diana’s death. The exchange has turned the release of “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister” into a new dispute between the Spencer family and the palace nearly three decades after Diana died.

Spencer says the palace challenged his memory

The Associated Press reported that Spencer’s book includes claims about conversations he says he had with the then-Prince Charles after Diana’s death in 1997. Buckingham Palace responded by saying the pain of grief can affect memory and judgment, rather than accepting Spencer’s version of those conversations.

People later reported that Spencer said he felt “gaslit” by the king after the palace response. The word is Spencer’s characterization of the exchange, not an independent description of what happened.

The book puts William and Harry back into the story

Spencer told People that he did not tell Prince William, Prince Harry or his sisters about the memoir until late in the writing process. He said he informed the family members at the same time and that Harry’s main concern was whether the book would embarrass him.

CBS News reported that the memoir also revisits Spencer’s objections to William and Harry walking behind their mother’s coffin. Spencer has argued that the boys should have been protected from that public moment, while the palace has disputed his broader account of the royal family’s actions and attitudes after Diana’s death.

A 30-year-old family argument is current again

The new material matters because it is not simply another retrospective on Diana’s life. Spencer is putting specific family conversations into the public record, and the palace has chosen to answer rather than ignore them.

That creates a fresh conflict around one of the most familiar royal stories of the last generation. The memoir arrives with Diana’s legacy still closely tied to William, Harry and King Charles, and the public disagreement means the book’s release is now also a live family dispute over whose memory of those days should be trusted.

References: Buckingham Palace hits back at claims in a book by Princess Diana’s brother | Charles Spencer Says He’s Been ‘Gaslit by the King’ After Palace Pushes Back on His Princess Diana Claims | Charles Spencer Says He Told Prince William and Prince Harry About Princess Diana Memoir at ‘Exactly the Same Time’ (Exclusive)