Earl Spencer has denied making a “threat” against King Charles despite claiming he “knows lots of things” about the monarch, as he addressed the controversy surrounding his remarks.
Speaking to Laura Kuenssberg in a 30-minute BBC interview over the weekend, the 62-year-old Earl discussed the remarks days before his memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister was released.
The Earl revealed that some potentially damaging information about King Charles was excluded from the book as it was considered irrelevant.
He claimed, “I know lots of things about the King which I chose not to include in the book because they were not relevant."
He also claimed that neither Prince William nor Prince Harry would find his revelations surprising.
After Kuenssberg described the statement as potentially threatening, the Earl pushed back against the characterisation, "No, not at all a threat; it's just the reality. If I was a salacious writer and wanted to write that sort of thing, I have plenty of other things I could have said."
The memoir made the striking claim that the then Prince of Wales was “giddily elated” during a phone call after Diana’s death, which Spencer likened to the reaction of a “lottery winner.”
Spencer also alleged that Charles told him, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
Earl Spencer claims in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister
Buckingham Palace attributed Spencer’s account to the distorting effects of “fraternal grief,” while Spencer pushed back, saying the Palace had “smudged” its response.
He also compared it to the Palace’s 2021 response to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Oprah interview, saying it had suggested “recollections may vary.”
Spencer acknowledged he could not be certain what King Charles was thinking, saying he interpreted the King’s tone at the time as suggesting that possibility.
He added that his nephews, Prince William and Prince Harry, would not be surprised by his account.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister by Charles Spencer is scheduled for release on September 22, 2026.
