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Diana's brother says he's 'telling truth' about king's 'monstrous' phone call

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Cite

Stuart, R. (2026, September 18). Diana's brother says he's 'telling truth' about king's 'monstrous' phone call. ABC News (AU). https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-19/princess-dianas-brother-says-he-is-telling-truth-in-new-book/107171200

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

ABC News (AU) · collected 2026-09-18 · by Riley Stuart

Quick Summary

Charles Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, defended his claims about King Charles III in an interview with the BBC, insisting that he is "telling the truth" despite Buckingham Palace's criticism. In his upcoming memoir, Spencer alleges that Prince Charles sounded "giddily elated" on the phone during a conversation shortly after Diana’s fatal car crash in 1997 and reportedly said "we'll forget her soon enough" days later. Buckingham Palace has not commented further since its initial statement but analysts noted the unusually strong language used, suggesting a departure from traditional royal diplomacy.
Written by AI on 2026-09-19, 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 2026-10-31, 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 22% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
BBC News
Hedges 2 of 4 claims Outlet record 68/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 2 of 11 claims Outlet record 65/100
The Guardian
Hedges 9 of 24 claims Outlet record 66/100
Times of India
Hedges 3 of 14 claims Outlet record 59/100
CBS News
Hedges 1 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
BBC News
Hedges 5 of 28 claims Outlet record 68/100
Evening Standard
Hedges 4 of 18 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
27
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
22%
6 of 27 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
68/100
ABC News (AU)'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 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

ABC News (AU) · 4457 article(s) · 10 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 10 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Riley Stuart
9 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Warning: This article contains details some readers may find distressing.
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🔮 In short: New US sanctions on the International Criminal Court will target its day-to-day operations.
🔮 Burnham promised to use a summit between the UK and European Union later this year to table several options about what the relationship could be in the future.
🔮 Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer apologises for factual error in new book amid legal threat, call to 'pulp' it In short: Charles Spencer says he will not pull his new book on the late Princess Diana, despite it containing a factual error.
🔮 Yet no one knew that the man who has towered over Russia's public affairs for decades, and changed the course of Russia's history, could be having a mud therapy treatment a few kilometres away?
🔮 When pressed about his claims that King Charles — who was not on the throne at the time — had told him "we will forget" about Diana, Earl Spencer said: "I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life."
🔮 "He let me know he had informed William and Harry of their mother's death, first thing that morning, in their bedrooms at Balmoral.
🔮 Britain, France and Canada will ban imports from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, in a symbolic move that could reshape Western foreign policy in the region.
Also by Riley Stuart
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 9 articles by Riley Stuart →

Topics

BBC Britain British Buckingham Palace Daily Mail

Subjects

Earl Spencer PERSON · 10× Diana PERSON · 9× Charles PERSON · 7× BBC ORG · 3× Britain GPE · 3× Buckingham Palace ORG · 2× Princess Diana's PERSON · 2× Charles Spencer PERSON · 1× Charles Spencer's PERSON · 1× Earl Spencer's PERSON · 1×

Narrative

After the first excerpts were published on Wednesday, a palace spokesperson said: "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 judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss."
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19
🔮 When pressed about his claims that King Charles — who was not on the throne at the time — had told him "we will forget" about Diana, Earl Spencer said: "I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life."

Claims (27 extracted, 6 hedged)

In short: Charles Spencer has given his first interview after a week of making explosive claims about Britain's royal family. uncertain
Spencer → give → family
The accusations, which are contained in Earl Spencer's new book, have sparked a war of words with Buckingham Palace. asserted
which → contain → Palace
Princess Diana's brother defended himself in the exchange with the BBC, broadcast on Friday evening. asserted
brother → defend → evening
Princess Diana's brother has doubled down on explosive claims about Britain's royal family, insisting he is "telling the truth" and suggesting the king is "embarrassed". uncertain
king → double → truth
Charles Spencer's numerous bombshell accusations, which are particularly critical of King Charles III, are contained in his soon-to-be-released memoir, excerpts of which have been published this week. asserted
excerpts → contain → which
The most disparaging allegations Earl Spencer has made relate to phone calls he says he had with Charles around the time of Diana's 1997 death in a car crash. asserted
he → make → crash
Charles and Diana's acrimonious divorce had been finalised the previous year. asserted
divorce → finalise → ?
Earl Spencer accused the Charles of sounding "giddily elated" during a conversation on the night Diana died, and also of saying "we'll forget her soon enough" several days after the crash. asserted
we → accuse → crash
The claims have sparked a strong rebuke from Buckingham Palace. uncertain
claims → spark → Palace
After the first excerpts were published on Wednesday, a palace spokesperson said: "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 judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss." asserted
others → publish → loss
It has not commented since then. asserted
It → comment → ?
Analysts have pointed out the strong choice of words used in the statement are a departure from the diplomatic language often chosen by British monarchs. asserted
choice → point → monarchs
In an interview with the BBC broadcast on Friday evening, local time, Earl Spencer defended himself. asserted
Spencer → broadcast → himself
Reacting to the palace's statement, he said: "Well, is he [the king] furious? asserted
he → react → statement
When pressed about his claims that King Charles — who was not on the throne at the time — had told him "we will forget" about Diana, Earl Spencer said: "I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life." uncertain
I → press → life
"I was hyper alert to what he was saying and those are precisely the words that he said and I promise that to you now." asserted
I → say → you
When he was asked whether he had any evidence to back up the allegation, Earl Spencer said he had told friends and family about it at the time "because it was so monstrous". asserted
it → ask → time
Earl Spencer was later asked whether the public should believe him or the palace's version of events, and replied: "I'm telling the truth. asserted
I → ask → truth
Britain's Daily Mail newspaper published more excerpts from the book titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, on Friday. asserted
newspaper → publish → Friday
In one passage, Earl Spencer claimed Queen Elizabeth II, who was the reigning monarch at the time, had offered to reinstate Diana's HRH title hours after her funeral had concluded. asserted
funeral → claim → title
While Diana remained a princess after her divorce, the Queen symbolically stripped her of the HRH designation, in a move that had left Diana devastated. asserted
that → remain → Diana
Earl Spencer said he declined Queen Elizabeth's offer. " asserted
he → say → offer
The title should never have been removed during her life, in which case it would not have been necessary to offer it to her in death," he wrote in his book. asserted
he → remove → book
In another claim published Friday, Earl Spencer said he worried about the level of care given to Charles and Diana's youngest son, Prince Harry, on the day of the funeral. uncertain
he → publish → funeral
On Thursday, Dickie Arbiter, who was Buckingham Palace's press spokesman at the time Diana died, rubbished the claims made in the book. uncertain
Diana → die → book
He told the BBC Earl Spencer was "just talking hogwash" and that King Charles had been "devastated" by his ex-wife's death. asserted
Charles → tell → death
The book is due to hit stores next week. asserted
book → hit → stores
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