Earl Spencer has made a new claim about Buckingham Palace, alleging that Palace "spies" wanted to vet his eulogy for his sister, Princess Diana, before her 1997 funeral. In a new interview on CNN's The Source with Kaitlan Collins, the earl discussed his book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, in which he makes several allegations about the Royal Family.
Rehearsal Encounter
During the interview, Ms Collins asked the earl about the rehearsal for his sister's funeral, noting that he had the eulogy in his pocket. She referenced his account of seeing figures emerging from the abbey's shadows, which he believed were Palace spies. The earl confirmed he thought, "They're here to check what I'm going to say."
Earl Spencer responded that he "played the upper-class i****" and pretended he had left the eulogy at home, because he realised they were trying to vet, perhaps veto, what he said. He stated that they did not know what he was going to say.
Hiding the Eulogy
He recounted telling them, "Oh, don't worry, you want a microphone check? I'll just read out of this hymn book." He then read one line, and they said, "Enough." He concluded that they were there to hear what he was going to say.
Asked whether he would have been "stopped" from reading his eulogy had the Palace known about it beforehand, he claimed: "I think so. I think there would have been an excuse that maybe time's too short in the service, and could you trim it a bit?" He added that he believed "there would have been red pens all over it," saying he was conscious that he had not written something intentionally inflammatory but knew he had to say those words on Diana's behalf.
Earlier Allegations
In the book, the earl also alleges that King Charles told him, "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough," after the princess's brother objected to her sons walking behind her coffin. He further alleges that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, "sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner" when he spoke to the earl after the princess's death. Buckingham Palace responded to the claims, saying "fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory."
