What we've learnt from Princess Diana's brother's explosive new book

Princess Diana's brother has sparked fresh controversy for the British royal family with a new book that claims King Charles sounded "elated" after her death.

In a book titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Charles Spencer recounted the days after Diana, 36, was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997.

He alleges he argued with the then Prince Charles — who had divorced Diana a year earlier — over the plans for Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk behind her coffin during the funeral procession.

Spencer claims he told Charles that Diana would not have wanted her sons to undergo the ordeal.

He alleges Charles told him: "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough."

The sensational claims in the memoir, extracts of which have been published before the book's full release later this week, prompted a strong rebuke from the usually measured royal family.

"While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty [Charles] 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," it said in a statement.

Charles sounded like a 'lottery winner'

In the book, Spencer accuses Charles of having "contempt" for his ex-wife and of sounding "dizzily elated — like a lottery winner" during a phone call he had with him on the night of her death.

"Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he [Charles] sounded giddily elated — like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time," the excerpt reads.

"He let me know he had informed William and Harry of their mother's death, first thing that morning, in their bedrooms at Balmoral [a castle in Scotland now owned by Charles]. It all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster.

"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. It can be hard to feel too much sympathy for an ex-spouse, or those who care for them profoundly, after bitter divorce."

In the latest extracts, Spencer claims "there were others in the Palace, I already knew, who were relieved — indeed, pleased — that she had gone".

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" in reference to Camilla Parker Bowles, who Charles married in 2005.

'Stream of anger'

Spencer also alleges Charles subjected him to a "stream of anger" after he insisted Diana would not have wanted William and Harry to walk in her funeral procession.

"He unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. 'Rest assured', he hissed, 'we'll forget her soon enough!' Spencer writes.

Diana, who was hugely popular in the United Kingdom, died after the car she was travelling in crashed as the driver tried to get away from paparazzi photographers.

Her death sparked an outpouring of grief in the UK and led to accusations that the monarchy failed to show appropriate empathy.

Both heir-to-the-throne William and Harry, who quit royal duties in 2020 but has just returned to the UK, have spoken previously about how difficult it was to walk behind her coffin.

Spencer has long clashed with the royals over what he felt was their poor treatment of his older sister.

In a searing eulogy at Diana's funeral, Spencer vowed that her "blood family" would carry on her "imaginative and loving" legacy by raising her two sons, which was widely considered a swipe at the royal family.

— With additional reporting by Agence France-Presse.

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