King sounded ‘giddily elated’ after Diana’s death, Earl Spencer claims

Allegations published in the Daily Mail sparked an “unprecedented” response from Buckingham Palace, who said “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason” after the earl’s book made explosive claims.

In excerpts from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – Earl Spencer spoke of how Charles’s phone call following the car crash in 1997 “all sounded strangely matter-of-fact”.

One passage read: “Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.

“He let me know he had informed William and Harry of their mother’s death, first thing that morning, in their bedrooms at Balmoral.

“It all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster.

“Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.”

The palace are yet to respond to the latest claims serialised by the Daily Mail, but a spokesman said on Wednesday: “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.”

In other passages of the book, Earl Spencer spoke of how his sister drove “more than once” to the cliffs at Beachy Head in East Sussex and was “contemplating ending it all”, adding that “her love for her sons stopped her from going further”.

The excerpt later goes on to claim that Diana told her brother “my husband is in love with his valet” after telling him she was going to get divorced.

The book reads: “It is a sad fact that, in her later years, Diana drove herself more than once to Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in England, while contemplating ending it all.

“Her love for her sons stopped her from going further.

“One day Diana asked me at very short notice to join her for lunch at San Lorenzo, her favourite London restaurant.

“She looked down at the table and said, ‘Carlos, I’m going to get divorced.’

“I was silent for a moment. I had known things were bad, but not this bad.

“‘Well, Duch,’ I carefully replied, ‘you of course have my full support… I know you’ll have thought this through.

“‘But my main worry is the public. I fear they won’t forgive you. They’ve bought into a fairytale, and I reckon they may ­well – wrongly – blame you for destroying their fantasy.’

“She looked up at me, nodded, and said quietly: ‘But, Carlos, my husband is in love with his valet.’

“I gulped. ‘Well, I guess, in that case, you really don’t have a choice’.”

The palace initially responded to claims published in the Daily Mail that the King told Diana’s brother “we’ll forget her soon enough” after her death, 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.

In the excerpts published on Thursday, the Earl went into further detail about the alleged “stream of anger”, claiming the then-Prince of Wales accused him of having “no sense of duty” after arguing William and Harry should not walk behind the coffin.

The book read: “A few minutes later, my direct line rang again. It was Prince Charles, sounding markedly less upbeat than when we had last spoken, on the morning of Diana’s death.

“‘I gather you’ve got a problem with the funeral arrangements,’ he said testily.

“‘No, I don’t think so,’ I said, my mind on the structure of the service as it was coming together.

“‘But I gather you’ve said you don’t want William and Harry to walk behind Diana’s coffin.’

“‘Well, of course not, sir. Diana would never have wanted that.’

“‘But I did it at Lord Mountbatten’s funeral!’

“‘But you were 30, sir, and he wasn’t your mother.’

“He went nuts. ‘That’s the problem with your family. They’ve got no bloody sense of duty!’ he started, before descending into a general rage.”

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.”

Elsewhere, the King and other senior royals continued with business as usual as they carried out public engagements the day after the palace’s response to the Earl’s claims.

There was no further reference to the row as Charles warned of the “existential dangers” of AI systems falling into the wrong hands, as he addressed tech leaders in Scotland on Thursday.

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.