Charles Spencer says he told the late broadcaster in 1997 that the King said, “we’ll forget her soon enough” after Diana’s death.
Earl Spencer claims he told Barbara Walters in 1997 about an alleged remark by the King following Diana, Princess of Wales’s death. Buckingham Palace responded that grief can affect judgment and memory. Spencer’s claims appear in his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.
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- Sep 28, 2026, 07:15 PM
Earl Spencer has claimed he told US news anchor Barbara Walters that the King said, “we’ll forget her soon enough” in the wake of Diana, Princess of Wales’s death.
Speaking to Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, said he shared the remark with Walters in 1997. Walters died in 2022.
The allegation appears in Spencer’s new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, and has prompted a response from Buckingham Palace, which said: “Fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory.”
Spencer said: “I know I heard that… I told people at the time. I told Barbara Walters, actually, at the time.” He added that there was “nothing wrong” with his mind or memory.
The earl also said the Duke of Sussex asked him whether the book contained anything that would embarrass him. Spencer said he replied: “Absolutely not,” adding that he was “very specific about people’s privacy.”
The memoir, released ahead of the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death next year, contains further allegations about the King. It alleges that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, sounded “giddily elated – like a lottery winner” when he spoke to Spencer after the princess’s death.
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