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‘We’ll forget her soon enough’: Diana’s brother makes explosive claim about Charles

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗
Cite

Crowe, D. (2026, September 16). ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’: Diana’s brother makes explosive claim about Charles. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/we-ll-forget-her-soon-enough-diana-s-brother-makes-explosive-claim-about-charles-20260917-p60y1e.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Sydney Morning Herald · collected 2026-09-16 · by David Crowe

Quick Summary

Earl Spencer claims that King Charles, then Prince of Wales, told him over the phone that people would “forget” Princess Diana soon after her death in 1997. This claim is made in a new book by Earl Spencer and has prompted Buckingham Palace to issue a rare rebuttal. The palace statement suggests that grief can affect memory but does not directly address the specific accusation.
Written by AI on 2026-09-17, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In September 2026, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan moved their children, Prince Archie (aged seven) and Princess Lilibet (five), to a new school in Britain after just two days due to security concerns. The couple's spokesperson cited heavy traffic between their home and the original school as the reason for the move. This decision came shortly after Harry and Meghan returned to Britain from California, where they had lived for six years. Additionally, the family's publicly-funded security is currently being reviewed by a government committee known as Ravec (the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures).

Written for “Charles Spencer's Memoir Controversy” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 141 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Charles Spencer's Memoir Controversy
Entertainment · 142 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 30% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 4 of 14 claims Outlet record 65/100
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Hedges 3 of 17 claims Outlet record 74/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 2 of 13 claims Outlet record 65/100
South China Morning Post
Hedges 2 of 6 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Guardian
Hedges 9 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
Deutsche Welle
Hedges 3 of 17 claims Outlet record 95/100
New York Post
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 9 of 44 claims Outlet record 66/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 3 of 13 claims Outlet record 65/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
30%
7 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
61/100
The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
142
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-17 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Sydney Morning Herald · 5572 article(s) · 15 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

Who wrote this

David Crowe
33 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “We would never confirm details of ongoing inquiries, and it would be inappropriate to comment further.”
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🔮 Two trains have collided on a high-speed line in central Spain in a crash that has killed at least 10 people, with authorities warning the number is expected to rise.
2026-10-28 · assertive framing · Ten dead in high-speed train crash in Spain
🔮 Prince William has revealed he once dreamt of becoming a policeman or a DJ when he considered careers other than being heir to the throne.
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🔮 In Nice, Mayor Eric Ciotti announced a curfew for young people from 9pm to 6am for the rest of this week.
🔮 She worries that politicians and the media will misrepresent the images from the protests.
🔮 On Sunday, he argued the protest movement was driven by genuine grievances over real issues, saying that people could no longer bear the high cost of living. “The situation for high school students and college students is hellish.
Also by David Crowe
Ten dead in high-speed train crash in Spain
2026-10-28 · The Sydney Morning Herald
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 33 articles by David Crowe →

Topics

Britain Buckingham Palace Paris

Subjects

Diana PERSON · 10× Charles PERSON · 6× Earl Spencer PERSON · 5× Harry PERSON · 3× Buckingham Palace ORG · 2× Earl Spencer’s PERSON · 2× Britain GPE · 1× Mummy PERSON · 1× Philip PERSON · 1× William PERSON · 1×

Narrative

“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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss,” the palace said in a statement.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-17
🔮 King Charles has hit back at an explosive claim that he said people would forget his first wife, Diana, “soon enough” after her death in a high-speed car crash in 1997.

Claims (23 extracted, 7 hedged)

King Charles has hit back at an explosive claim that he said people would forget his first wife, Diana, “soon enough” after her death in a high-speed car crash in 1997. uncertain
people → hit → 1997
Buckingham Palace took the rare step of rebutting the new claim after Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, revealed his account of private conversations in a new book about his sister. uncertain
brother → take → sister
The claim centres on the earl’s strong belief that the Princess of Wales would not have wanted her two sons, Princes William and Harry, to walk behind her coffin in her funeral procession. uncertain
sons → centre → procession
Earl Spencer asserts in his new book that he received a phone call from the king, then the Prince of Wales, to confirm the plan for the young men, then aged 15 and 12, to be part of the procession. asserted
men → assert → procession
Diana’s brother says he complained about the plan, but Charles insisted it would go ahead. asserted
it → say → plan
“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,” the earl writes in the new book. “‘Rest assured,’ he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’.” asserted
we → unleash → her
Earl Spencer joined Charles and Prince Philip in the funeral procession at a time of national mourning for Diana, and he delivered the eulogy for his sister in Westminster Cathedral in September 1997. asserted
he → join → September
Extracts from his new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, appeared in The Daily Mirror amid widespread expectations he could be heavily critical of Charles and the royal family. uncertain
he → appear → Charles
Earl Spencer delivered a eulogy at his Diana’s funeral in Westminster Abbey that was later named one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century. asserted
that → deliver → century
He has described the new book as a continuation of that eulogy. asserted
He → describe → eulogy
Prior to the book’s release, he said: “The aim of this book is to tell the truth about Diana from her brother’s perspective ... asserted
aim → say → perspective
I want to speak on Diana’s behalf and do so in an openly positive way.” asserted
I → want → way
Earl Spencer’s new claim appears likely to heighten the rifts within the family when Prince Harry has a strained relationship with his father after his memoir, Spare, which also touched on the decision over the funeral. uncertain
which → appear → funeral
“It seemed a lot to ask of two young boys,” Harry wrote. asserted
Harry → seem → boys
Mummy’s brother, Uncle Charles [Earl Spencer], raised hell. asserted
Charles → raise → hell
‘You can’t make these boys walk behind their mother’s coffin! asserted
boys → make → coffin
It’s barbaric’.” asserted
It → ’ → ?
While Earl Spencer’s concerns have been long known, his claim that Charles said Diana would be forgotten “soon enough” has made headlines in Britain. uncertain
Diana → know → Britain
The attention prompted Buckingham Palace to counter the claim without going into the details of the contested phone conversation from almost three decades ago. uncertain
attention → prompt → conversation
“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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss,” the palace said in a statement. asserted
palace → comment → statement
Princess Diana was killed in a crash in Paris at the age of 36 when paparazzi photographers were chasing the car she was in with her partner at the time, Dodi Fayed. asserted
she → kill → time
An inquest into her death ruled that it was caused by the gross negligence of the driver, Henri Paul, who was drunk, and the pursuit by the paparazzi. asserted
who → rule → paparazzi
Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. asserted
what → get → world
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