Key Takeaways
- Charles Spencer claims in his memoir Swan Song that Princess Diana told him she wanted a divorce because King Charles III was “in love with his valet.”
- Spencer also alleges Charles sounded “giggly, elated, like a lottery winner” after Diana’s death and later said, “We’ll forget her soon enough!” during a funeral dispute.
- Buckingham Palace disputes Spencer’s account and says grief can “cloud reason” and “color memory,” while Spencer stands by his recollections ahead of the book’s Sept. 22 release.
Charles Spencer apparently has no intention of backing down from King Charles III.
Days after Buckingham Palace took the extraordinary step of publicly pushing back against claims in Spencer's upcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Princess Diana's brother has revealed another explosive recollection: Diana allegedly told him her then-husband was “in love with his valet” while explaining why she wanted a divorce.
According to The Daily Beast, Spencer writes that Diana summoned him to lunch at San Lorenzo, one of her favorite London restaurants, and announced, “Carlos, I’m going to get divorced.”
Her brother initially urged caution, telling her he supported her but that she should think through such a monumental decision. According to Spencer, Diana's response was considerably more direct: “But, Carlos, my husband is in love with his valet.”
The memoir does not identify the valet. The allegation also echoes decades-old rumors about Charles and members of his household that his office explicitly rejected. In 2003, Clarence House said allegations concerning Charles's sexuality were “entirely without foundation,” while an internal inquiry found no evidence of a deliberate cover-up involving a separate allegation concerning royal staff.
That would already be enough to guarantee Swan Song attention ahead of its Sept. 22 release. But Spencer's latest account comes as he and Buckingham Palace already publicly dispute what happened in the days after Diana died.
Spencer claims Charles called him following Diana's fatal 1997 Paris car crash and sounded “giggly elated, like a lottery winner.” Spencer writes that he came to believe the future king's initial reaction may have been connected to the possibility that he was finally free to marry Camilla Parker Bowles.
For its part, Buckingham Palace has strongly rejected his broader account of Charles's behavior following Diana's death.
The palace's rare response came after another passage in which Spencer alleged Charles told him, “Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough!” during an argument over arrangements for Diana's funeral.
Buckingham Palace responded that King Charles is “mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss.”
Spencer, for his part, isn't backing away from his claims. He has since publicly stood by his recollection of that conversation, describing it as “monstrous” and arguing that the palace response challenges his memory without directly addressing whether Charles said the words.
It is quite the escalation from the “simple tribute” Spencer originally said he had written.
The 9th Earl Spencer previously said he believes Diana “would have approved of every word” in Swan Song. He has also described the book as an extension of what he attempted at Diana's 1997 funeral: speaking on behalf of the sister he believed had been misunderstood and mistreated.
