‘Those are exactly the words he said’: Earl Spencer says he is telling the truth about the King

Earl Spencer has doubled down on his claims that the King made disparaging remarks about Diana, Princess of Wales, in the days after her death.

Diana’s younger brother has suggested King Charles is embarrassed about the “monstrous” alleged comment that the Princess would be forgotten “soon enough”.

In his forthcoming memoir, the Earl claimed that during a row about her funeral plans, the then Prince of Wales “hissed” to him over the phone: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”

The allegations led Buckingham Palace to issue a swift and unusual statement accusing the King’s former brother-in-law of “clouded reasoning”.

On Wednesday, a palace spokesman said that “His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory”.

However, in his first interview since the statement was released, the Earl insisted he was “telling the truth” about the phone call, telling the BBC : “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.”

Reacting to the comment from the palace in an interview at his Althorp estate, he said: “Well, is he furious? Is he furious or is he embarrassed?”

He added: “I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my 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. Genuinely, that is what he said. I don’t hear him saying he didn’t say that.”

When asked whether he had evidence to back up his claim, the Earl said he had told family and friends what had been said at the time “because it was so monstrous”.

He also described the palace rebuttal to his account as a “smudged one”, adding: “They’ve said that recollections may vary.”

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, reacted to the Earl’s claims in his forthcoming memoir, telling BBC Newsnight : “I have a side and it’s always on the side of His Majesty.”

Referring to the statement issued by the palace, the Conservative leader continued: “I would reiterate exactly what it was that the King himself had said, or certainly Buckingham Palace said on his behalf.”

In further excerpts of the Earl’s memoir, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister , being serialised in the Daily Mail newspaper, he also wrote that the then Prince Charles sounded “giddily elated – like a lottery winner” on the morning Diana died.