Prince Harry is "completely fine" with a new memoir about his mother, Princess Diana, according to his uncle Earl Spencer. The book, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, includes a series of allegations about King Charles.
Claims about King Charles
Earl Spencer has claimed that Charles remarked "we'll forget her soon enough" following Diana's death, prompting a verbal clash with Buckingham Palace. A Palace spokesperson said last week that the King is "mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise".
Asked about informing Harry and the Prince of Wales about the book, Earl Spencer told People magazine: "I can say that Harry is completely fine about it. He said, I hope there's nothing embarrassing about him in it. I said, 'There isn't'."
Reassuring the brothers
He added: "I think they were actually worried where I was going up to with the book. It pretty much ends in 1997 with Diana's death, and there's a tiny postscript by the grave. So I think there was this, 'Gosh, what's he written about?' And I think it's natural that people so in the public eye are concerned how they will come across in the book."
"But I could reassure both of them that they're of course in the book, but really as examples of two little boys who had the most exceptional mother, I'm not in any way compromising their privacy at all."
Book release and reaction
The news comes amid reports that Harry is in talks over a documentary about Diana for the 30th anniversary of her passing next year. Earl Spencer admitted feeling "concern" over how William and Harry might react to his depiction of their father, but insisted he is "not here" to write a "scandalous book" about the King.
He told the magazine he had "not really" felt apprehension about writing so openly about Charles. "I respect the institution of the Crown, and I know that most people in Britain do, especially the older generation, but when I'm writing this book, I'm not interested in who people are in terms of status," he said. "I'm looking at them as people. And the central person, the only one that really matters, is Diana."
Earl Spencer said he believed his sister would have approved of the book. "She always loved it when I paid compliments, and this is 350 pages of compliments," he remarked. The book is set to be released on Tuesday.
