The King sounded “giddily elated… like a lottery winner” when he rang the brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, following her death, Earl Spencer’s new memoir 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’.”
