The Royal Family has “ridden out the storm” surrounding the drama of Earl Spencer’s memoir, with royal expert Jennie Bond believing it was the “right tactic” for the King to respond to the bombshell claims.
Former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond said the Prince and Princess of Wales’s policy of silence during the fallout from Princess Diana’s brother’s explosive book was the right decision. The royals have faced a difficult few weeks dealing with the memoir, which took aim at the King and the Firm with a series of astounding accusations.
Earl Spencer's allegations
Earl Spencer alleged in his memoir that then Prince Charles said “we’ll forget her soon enough” following the tragic death of the late Princess of Wales. Since the book was released, Charles Spencer has been travelling across the UK and the US promoting the memoir, hitting back at an unprecedented statement issued by the Palace after a controversial excerpt of the book was released.
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said: “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.”
Royal expert's verdict
Now, almost two weeks on from the publication of the book, Jennie Bond believes the royals have weathered the worst of the backlash, and praised the King’s response to the allegations. Jennie told the Mirror: “I think the Earl Spencer drama has peaked and the Royal Family have ridden out the storm. Opinion seems to be divided about whether or not Buckingham Palace was wise to issue its hard-hitting statement at the start of the row.”
“I think it was the right tactic, and became especially pertinent after it became clear that there was at least one inaccuracy in Spencer’s book,” she added.
William and Kate's approach
While the King was quick to put out a statement on Spencer’s memoir, the Prince and Princess of Wales have not spoken openly about the claims made in the book, which Jennie believes is a smart move for both William and Kate. “Equally, I think William and Catherine made the right decision to ignore the noise – and the allegations – and simply get on with their work,” Jennie added.
“As with Harry’s book, they rose above the row, refused to acknowledge any questions and just carried on charming the crowds who came to see them. It’s very effective and I don’t see them getting sucked into the drama now.”
The Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers said William is “incredibly saddened” by the claims in Earl Spencer’s book, as he feels “let down” by his uncle. Speaking on the Mirror’s YouTube show Pod Save The King, Myers said: “There is an awful lot of sadness in William’s mind. I mean, look at how many people he’d been let down by. His brother, his sister-in-law, now his uncle.”
“And I thought it was quite telling that Earl Spencer said that he told both William and Harry [about the book] and Harry was the only one to respond quite selfishly saying ‘Well is there anything about me that I should be worried about?’”
“Now I know that William has not responded to [Earl Spencer] and he is incredibly saddened by this. There’s lots of talk about generational anger and fury.”
