Princess Diana's brother's new book says Charles was 'giddily elated' when she died
Britain’s King Charles III sounded “like a lottery winner” on the night Princess Diana died in a 1997 car crash, according to excerpts from a forthcoming memoir by her brother Charles Spencer, which the Daily Mail has been serialising since Wednesday ahead of the book’s Sept 22 release.
The allegations prompted a rare rebuke from Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, attributing the startling claims to the clouded memory of fraternal grief.
In latest excerpts of his book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, published on Thursday in the Daily Mail, Charles Spencer wrote that the then-Prince Charles was “giddily elated” in the immediate aftermath of Diana’s death. Spencer suspects the prince felt freed to marry again.
Taking the unusual step of responding to the criticism, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson issued a statement strongly pushing back against the allegations.
“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 judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss,” the spokesperson said.
In another extract, Spencer alleged that Charles subjected him to a “stream of anger” over whether princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, should walk in their mother’s funeral procession. Spencer wrote that Charles hissed over the phone, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough!”
Spencer said he spoke to Charles shortly after Diana’s death was confirmed.
“Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time,” Spencer wrote.
He added, “Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.”
Diana, who was hugely popular in the UK, died at the age of 36 when the car carrying her and Dodi al-Fayed crashed in Paris as it sped away from chasing paparazzi on motorbikes.
Her death sparked an outpouring of grief in Britain and led to accusations that the monarchy failed to show appropriate empathy.
Both heir-to-the-throne William and Harry have spoken previously about how difficult it was to walk behind her coffin.
Charles and Diana separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996. That was a year after Diana told the BBC that “there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded,” referencing Charles’ relationship with Camilla Parker Bowles, whom he married in 2005.
The latest excerpts also stated that Diana went to a site of many suicides on Britain’s south coast, but that her love for her sons “stopped her from going further”.
“It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all,” Spencer wrote.
Julian Payne, who served as communications secretary to Charles in 2017, told the BBC he found it hard to believe his former boss made the remarks.
“It’s just not language that I recognise,” Payne said.
Sunday Times royal editor Roya Nikkhah told the BBC the swift response hinted at the monarchy’s anger.
“Sometimes the palace have to weigh up whether or not they want to just leave things and adopt the never complain, never explain mantra,” Nikkhah said. “But I don’t think that would have washed in this scenario.”
British media likened the palace’s statement to the late Queen Elizabeth II’s 2021 response to claims of racism from Harry and Meghan, when the monarch noted that “some recollections may vary”.
Originally published in Dawn, September 18th, 2026
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