Earl Spencer claims King Charles said 'you're so lucky to have inherited so young' after dad's death

Earl Spencer claimed the then-Prince Charles said Diana's brother was "lucky to have inherited so young" after his father's death, in a fresh allegation against the King.

The Earl, Charles Spencer, is due to release his controversial memoir, called 'Swan Song: Diana, My Sister' next week but the aristocrat has caused a stir in serialisations of the book released and interviews. In a TV interview with CBS News , Earl Spencer claimed the then-Prince made a "peculiar" comment after the death of Charles Spencer's dad John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer.

Princess Diana's brother became the 9th Earl Spencer after their father died in March 1992.

In a clip of a interview with CBS News, due to be released in full on Sunday, Earl Spencer claimed King Charles said he was "so lucky" over his inheritance.

Earl Spencer said: "It was a very peculiar conversation actually, cause my father had died very suddenly a few days before. And, I just was so surprised because Prince Charles, as he was then, sort of said to me 'you're so lucky'. And, I said 'I'm so sorry sir?' and he said 'you're so lucky to have inherited so young'.

"And, I thought that's so, such a peculiar way of looking at somebody’s family loss really and I supposed it portrayed his frustration at not being King, I guess."

In another clip of the upcoming interview, Earl Spencer claimed he was not "bitter" at the Royal Family , saying: "I'm absolutely not bitter. I can tell you. If I was bitter, this book would be... more bitter."

When asked if he had an resentment towards the King and Queen, the Earl said: "I'm not really in the business of resentment. I'm at the stage in my life where the past is the past, and some of it's worth recording.

"But I don't hold resentments, primarily because I don't think it's good for the person to do that themselves. I've let a lot go. I'm not a vengeful, resentful, person. I'm just an eyewitness to history."

This follows a claim in his memoir that alleged the King told Diana's brother, "We'll forget her soon enough" in a call following her death in 1997.

Buckingham Palace issued a stern statement following that allegation, with a spokesman on Wednesday saying: "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 an extract of a BBC interview released on Friday, the Earl insisted he is "telling the truth" and described the King's comments about his sister as "monstrous".

Speaking about an alleged row over Diana’s funeral arrangements involving her sons, the earl said: “(The King) went ballistic, would be the right term, and started really going for my family as a whole, about their sense of duty, not being adequate enough, and ranted for a while, I have no idea how long, but it was a significant period, and I just listened.

“And then he stopped, and I thought, 'Oh now he's going to pull himself together and say something more appropriate'. And then he said, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough'."