Buckingham Palace disputes Charles Spencer memoir claim about Diana funeral dispute

Dispute over funeral arrangements

Extracts published ahead of Charles Spencer's memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, recount a heated 1997 telephone exchange between Diana's brother and the then-Prince of Wales. According to Spencer, the dispute focused on whether Prince William, then 15, and Prince Harry, then 12, should walk behind their mother's coffin in the funeral cortege. Spencer opposed the plan, arguing his sister would not have wanted her young sons subjected to public ordeal. After a senior aide to Queen Elizabeth II stated that the princes would participate, Spencer objected directly, prompting a phone call from Charles.

Spencer writes that Charles defended the arrangement by citing his own participation in the 1979 funeral procession of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, though Spencer pointed out that Charles was 30 years old at that time. Spencer states that the conversation escalated until Charles claimed the public would move past Diana's death, allegedly remarking that she would be forgotten soon enough.

Buckingham Palace response

Buckingham Palace issued a public statement on 16 September 2026 addressing the claims, which the Daily Mail began serialising on 17 September. Rather than reconstructing the conversation, the palace suggested that the passage reflected distorted memories stemming from personal loss.

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 colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.

Palace officials viewed the alleged remark as contrary to Charles's character during the period following Diana's death. Accounts from the royal household noted that Charles was managing his own grief while attempting to support both sons through the funeral arrangements.

Origins of the royal rift

The friction between Spencer and the royal household dates to the aftermath of Diana's death on 31 August 1997. Diana died at age 36 in a Paris car crash alongside Dodi al-Fayed while evading paparazzi photographers. Her death followed her 1981 marriage to Charles and their divorce in 1996, leaving family relations strained.

At Diana's funeral service at Westminster Abbey, Spencer delivered an address criticising both the media and the royal household. The decision regarding the funeral walk remained a subject of discussion in subsequent years; Prince Harry later remarked that no child should have to walk behind a coffin, though he stated in 2017 that in hindsight he was glad to have participated.

Forthcoming publication

The memoir Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is scheduled for official publication on 22 September 2026. Spencer explained that he wrote the book to present Diana's life from a sibling's perspective and counter inaccuracies about her.

The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother's perspective... I want to speak on Diana's behalf and do so in an openly positive way.

Reports on 16 September indicated that advance copies of the book were stolen ahead of the launch date. The release coincides with scheduled royal appearances across the United Kingdom, including events attended by King Charles, Prince William, Catherine, and Prince Harry.