Earl Spencer’s Explosive Diana Claims Put Prince Harry in an Awkward Position With Charles and William

Prince Harry’s relationship with the Royal Family is facing renewed scrutiny after Earl Spencer published a series of explosive claims about King Charles in his new memoir about Princess Diana.

The controversy surrounding Swan Song: Diana, My Sister has become particularly uncomfortable for Harry because he and Meghan reportedly spent time with Spencer at Althorp Estate in July, before the book’s most controversial allegations became public.

Spencer is said to have told Harry about the forthcoming memoir. However, there is no evidence in the source that Harry had read the manuscript, knew the full extent of its contents or approved of the claims Spencer would later make.

That distinction has become important as questions emerge over what, if anything, Harry knew before his uncle reignited one of the Royal Family’s most sensitive chapters.

Harry Met Spencer Before the Memoir’s Release

Harry and Meghan visited Spencer at Althorp, Diana’s ancestral family home and burial place, several months before Swan Song reached bookshelves.

According to the report, Harry was aware that his uncle had written the memoir. But neither Prince William nor Buckingham Palace was reportedly given the complete manuscript or informed in advance of its most controversial details.

There is also no suggestion that Spencer provided Harry with a copy to read beforehand.

Nevertheless, the timing of their meeting has attracted attention now that Spencer’s allegations about Charles have become public.

Spencer Makes Explosive Claims About Charles

Among the most striking passages in the memoir is Spencer’s account of a private telephone conversation with Charles following Diana’s death in 1997.

Spencer claims Charles told him: “We’ll forget her soon enough.”

He has also described Charles’s demeanor during another conversation about telling William and Harry of their mother’s death as almost “giddy.”

These are Spencer’s recollections and characterizations of private conversations rather than independently established accounts of Charles’s state of mind.

The claims have nevertheless reopened discussion about the deeply strained relationships surrounding Diana during the final years of her life and immediately after her death.

An Old Photograph Adds Another Layer

The opinion piece also points to photographs taken several weeks after the alleged phone conversation.

Despite Spencer saying the call had left him furious, he was subsequently photographed speaking with Charles at an event in Cape Town.

The image does not establish what either man privately thought about the other, but its resurfacing has added another dimension to the debate surrounding Spencer’s recollections.

His memoir, meanwhile, has ensured that conversations from nearly three decades ago are once again being publicly examined.

Why Harry Is Being Pulled Into the Controversy

Harry has not been accused of contributing any of Spencer’s claims, and the source provides no evidence that he encouraged his uncle to criticize Charles.

Yet his July meeting with Spencer inevitably places him close to the story.

The opinion writer raises several questions: whether Harry knew what his uncle intended to publish, whether he attempted to discourage him, or whether the subject was discussed in detail at all.

Those questions remain unanswered.

They carry additional significance because Harry has himself written publicly about Charles, William and other members of the Royal Family in his memoir Spare.

Any suggestion that Harry knew about Spencer’s allegations beforehand could therefore become another source of tension — but the article does not establish that he did.

William Has Not Publicly Responded

The controversy also puts renewed attention on Prince William.

Both brothers lost Diana when they were children, and both have previously spoken about protecting their mother’s memory.

However, William has not publicly confirmed how he feels about Spencer’s new allegations. Claims that he must be “furious” are speculation rather than a documented reaction from the Prince of Wales.

That leaves an unusual situation in which Diana’s brother has publicly reopened painful questions about her death while her sons have so far offered no comparable public response to his claims.

Could It Complicate Harry’s Royal Future?

The opinion piece argues that Spencer’s book could make any attempt by Harry to rebuild a closer working relationship with the monarchy more difficult.

Harry and Meghan’s position within the Royal Family has already been the subject of renewed attention following their return to Britain. Buckingham Palace has maintained that the couple are not working members of the Royal Family.

Against that backdrop, Spencer’s accusations against Charles introduce another potential source of friction.

But whether the memoir actually changes Charles or William’s relationship with Harry remains unknown.

What is clear is that Harry now finds himself connected to another deeply personal Diana controversy without having publicly entered it himself.

Spencer wrote the book. Spencer made the allegations. Yet because Harry met his uncle shortly before those allegations became public — and because of Harry’s own complicated history with Charles and William — the fallout is now inevitably drawing the Duke of Sussex into a family dispute he did not publicly start.