Princess Diana's former butler has claimed Earl Spencer barely spoke to his late sister, contradicting the portrayal in the earl's new memoir.
Paul Burrell, who served as Diana's butler, made the comments on Piers Morgan Uncensored following the release of Charles Spencer's book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. The memoir has made headlines for its claims about the King.
Burrell's claims
Speaking on the show, Burrell said: "They barely spoke. He was not part of her world."
He added: "I'd think those last five years are pretty vague in the book because he knows nothing about them."
Burrell also recalled Diana's own words about her family, saying: "She [Diana] said, 'My family only want me when they want the best seats in the best restaurants or want to sit in the Royal Box at Wimbledon'."
Memoir claims
The earl's book includes claims that the King, then the Prince of Wales, said about Diana, "we'll forget her soon enough" during an argument over whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother's coffin.
The memoir also alleges the King "sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner" when he spoke to the earl after Diana's death.
Buckingham Palace responded, saying the King was "mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss".
Fallout with Diana
The late princess and her brother reportedly fell out after he refused to let her live at Althorp's Garden House cottage in 1993, following her separation from Charles in 1992. The refusal reportedly came amid security and paparazzi concerns, and because the property was occupied by a staff member at the time. The earl said he offered his sister other options on the estate, but she declined.
The earl last week told the BBC he felt it was his "duty… as an eyewitness to history" to write the memoir, adding: "I'm aware of mortality and I wanted to just put things down once and for all that were true. This is not a threat, it's a fact, I know lots of things about the King which I chose not to include in the book because they were not relevant."
