The King and senior royals continued with business as usual, with public appearances following Buckingham Palace’s “unprecedented” pushback against explosive claims made by the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Charles, the Prince and Princess of Wales and the Princess Royal all carried out public engagements on Thursday after excerpts of Earl Spencer’s new memoir were published in the Daily Mail.
The book – Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – alleges the King told Diana’s brother “we’ll forget her soon enough” after her death in 1997, and that Charles subjected the Earl to a “stream of anger” after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.
The palace hit back at the claims with a short statement, saying “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason”.
Commenting after the excerpts were published on Wednesday, a palace spokesman 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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
There was no further reference to the row as the King warned of the “existential dangers” of AI systems falling into the wrong hands, as he addressed tech leaders in Edinburgh on Thursday.
Charles addressed bosses from some of the world’s leading AI developers – Nvidia, Anthropic and OpenAI – about the future of artificial intelligence.
He called on tech leaders to ensure that as AI is developed, “our humanity remains sacred”.
The King told a summit at Dumfries House that the new technology should be in the “service of humanity, community and the natural world”.
William and Kate also carried on with business as usual as the Princess of Wales showed off her shinty skills after declaring “I want to give it a go” during a visit to the Scottish island of Bute.
The Duke of Sussex is also expected to make his first public appearance after he, along with his wife, the Duchess of Sussex, returned to the UK from the US last month.
The Duchess of Edinburgh’s visit to Zambia and the Princess Royal’s attendance at the opening of a new history centre at the German military cemetery in Staffordshire were among other royal engagements on Thursday.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty Magazine and author of Catherine And Diana, The Women Who Shaped The Monarchy, told the Press Association the palace’s response to Earl Spencer’s claims was “unprecedented”.
The royal commentator said: “It’s unprecedented as far as I can think. It’s very unusual, let’s say. Very unusual.
“I imagine it’s because the King was very upset and wanted to set the record straight – more on behalf of his sons than anything else.”
According to a book excerpt, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s senior aides told him that William and Harry were to walk in the procession, prompting the earl to state “that’s not going to happen”.
Charles called minutes later and told him that 18 years earlier, he had walked in the funeral procession of his great-uncle, Lord Mountbatten, it is claimed.
In the book, the earl claims: “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped.
“I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then 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. ‘Rest assured’, he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’.”
Commenting on how the claims will affect the King, Ms Seward told PA: “I think it’s very unpleasant for the King.
“For anyone to say something like that, it’s extremely upsetting and I’m delighted he has hit back.”
She said she did not believe the palace would say anything further once the book has been published in full.
Summarising how unprecedented the palace’s response to the claims is, the royal commentator said: “They never comment on books. They never, ever comment on books.
“They might be unhappy about it but they always refrain from making comment.
“But this is very personal so it’s different, and also it’s said by Diana’s brother.”
She added that she believed the palace’s response was because of how unpleasant the situation is for William and Harry.
Ms Seward said: “It’s pretty unpleasant for William and Harry to have their father painted in this way and I think that’s why the palace hit back.
“I think Charles could easily take it on the chin because he’s been criticised so many times before, but I think it’s really for William and Harry that this has become such a big story.”
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