Only a few excerpts from a new book by Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, have been published so far. But they caused a huge uproar in the British royal family, drowning out painful memories of Princess Diana and Charles III’s unhappy marriage, and prompting an unusually strong rebuke from Buckingham Palace.
“While we do not comment on books as a general rule, Her Majesty is mindful that even many years after such a loss, the pain of a brother’s grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways that others do not recognize,” a palace spokesperson said in a statement.
CNN did not see the book “Swan Song” before publication, but a Penguin Random House spokesperson confirmed the accuracy of the text quoted by the Daily Mail, which exclusively published excerpts from the book.
These excerpts include some revelations about Charles and Diana’s marriage, as well as the then Prince of Wales’ reaction to her death.
Here’s what you need to know about the book before its release next week.
Perhaps the most incendiary claim in these excerpts is Spencer’s recollection of how Charles reacted to Diana’s death.
He detailed that difficult night on August 31, 1997, from the moment the news of Princess Diana’s death in Paris first broke, through his frequent phone calls with his sister Jane, to the moment he called his former brother-in-law when he learned that Princess Diana had died.
During that phone call, Charles “seemed dizzy and elated, like he had won the lottery,” Spencer said.
“In retrospect, I think the prince’s first reaction may have been to think about how this event could free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than be grateful for the loss of the woman he didn’t love,” Spencer argued.
In a later phone call between the two, Spencer said Prince Charles let out a “wave of anger” and paused for a moment as Prince William and Prince Harry were arguing over whether they should walk behind the coffin at their mother’s funeral.
“I thought his silence was a signal that he was trying to control himself, but then he unleashed on the phone all the pent-up disdain I had always felt for Princess Diana and the fear that the world was devastated by her death,” Spencer wrote.
“‘Don’t worry,’ he hissed. ‘You’ll forget about her in no time!'” Spencer wrote. “‘I can’t believe you just said that,’ I said firmly and hung up.”
Mr Spencer described walking behind his sister’s coffin as a “harrowing experience” and said he was concerned about the “obvious lack of consideration” given to Prince Harry after Princess Diana’s death.
“Of course he needed Princess Diana’s hug, which he will forever be denied,” Spencer wrote. “But instead of calming down and nurturing, he was allowed to spin out of control.”
Charles and Diana’s unhappy marriage
Spencer also detailed his perception of his sister’s unhappy relationship with the then Prince of Wales, even claiming that Diana tried to break off the engagement because Charles “showed little interest in her” at her brother Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s 21st birthday party.
“Shortly after that night, when her heartbreak intensified, Diana went to see her father,” Spencer wrote. “She clearly told him she couldn’t marry a man who didn’t love her.” Spencer said her father did not allow Princess Diana to break off her engagement.
Spencer claimed the incident occurred shortly after Princess Diana discovered a bracelet Charles had bought for his current wife, Queen Camilla.
And the day before the wedding, Charles told Diana, “I wanted her to know that while he was very happy to be married, he didn’t actually love her,” Spencer wrote, quoting his sister as telling a “close friend.”
Just days after the couple announced their engagement, Spencer claims Prince Charles squeezed Princess Diana around the waist and said, “Oh, you’re a bit chubby, aren’t you?”
Spencer said the comments were “shocking” for Princess Diana, who struggled with bulimia.
“She later told me that between her engagement and marriage, her waist had shrunk from 29 inches to 23 and a half inches,” Spencer wrote.
Spencer claimed that on the day of Princess Diana’s funeral, Queen Elizabeth offered to reinstate her title of “Her Royal Highness,” which she lost after her divorce from Prince Charles.
The characters for “His or Her Royal Highness” are used to indicate a certain senior royal. A year before the tragedy, the late Queen had vowed to scrap the royal style in the event of a divorce – as did Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson, who divorced Prince Andrew at the time.
Mr Spencer said he was “deeply hurt” by Princess Diana’s “petty and vindictive” deprivation of the title and had decided to reject Elizabeth’s “well-intentioned” offer as a “consolation prize”.
“I felt like I knew in my bones how she would view this posthumous award,” he wrote, recalling a conversation with the Queen’s private secretary, Robert Fellows. “Of course, that’s a very kind queen. But what do you mean, Robert? Now? I mean, Princess Diana is dead.”
