Royal commentator Dickie Arbiter has criticised Earl Spencer's claim that his new book about Princess Diana is intended to help and protect Prince William and Prince Harry, arguing it is having the opposite effect.
Arbiter spoke out just an hour after the BBC broadcast a sit-down interview with Earl Spencer, saying the revelations are helping no one and widening the gap within the family.
Arbiter's social media response
Shortly after the interview aired on BBC One, Arbiter took to social media, writing: "In his 6 September 1997 eulogy in Westminster Abbey, Earl Spencer vowed to protect William and Harry. His current allegations are hardly protecting his nephews nor protecting the memory of his sister 29 years after her tragic death."
Diana died aged 36 in a 1997 Paris car crash as photographers pursued her on motorbikes, prompting questions about the media's responsibility in her death.
Earl Spencer's claims about King Charles
In the interview, Earl Spencer doubled down on his claims about how King Charles acted in the wake of Diana's death. He alleged that King Charles said "we'll forget her soon enough" during a row about Diana's funeral arrangements.
The allegations prompted Buckingham Palace to release an unprecedented statement, in which King Charles said he is "mindful" that grief can cloud reason and memory.
Earl Spencer was adamant in the chat that he had said those words and vowed: "I am telling the truth." He also said he was not taking sides between the brothers and would want to be there for both of them.
Earl Spencer's stance on the brothers
"I'm on my deceased sister's sons' side, both of them," he said. "And if either of them wanted anything then I'd be equally there for them. And I never get involved in one camp or the other, except as a benign figure I hope."
He said there are a "lot of reasons on both sides" why the brothers' relationship had "got to this stage".
"I hope one day it's resolved, but I don't know all – I certainly don't know what's been done in the finer detail and so I would feel intrusive if I got more involved than to say of course a mother would want her two sons to be happy together and love each other," he said.
Earl Spencer also said: "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."
He added: "I would say that I personally worry about the fifth-in-line to the throne who's served in the military not having any police protection. As an uncle who's seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, that I would veer towards protection."
"It would really be beholden on people to learn from Diana's example. I'm not here to speak for Harry and Meghan, but for anyone who's being destroyed in this way daily, it must be such a cancerous influence in their life," Earl Spencer said.
