Princess Diana’s brother reveals King Charles’ alleged “odd wish” for her funeral

Nearly three decades after Princess Diana’s death, her brother Charles Spencer is revisiting one of the most painful moments surrounding her funeral, claiming that then-Prince Charles insisted on walking directly behind Diana’s coffin despite the couple having divorced the previous year.

The account appears in Spencer’s forthcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is due to be published Sept. 22. Excerpts from the book have renewed scrutiny of the tense relationship between Diana’s family and the royal household following her death in 1997.

Spencer, 62, writes that Charles was determined to take part in the funeral procession. He describes the request as an “odd wish,” particularly in light of what he says were Charles’ feelings toward Diana.

“Prince Charles was insisting that he wanted to do so,” Spencer writes, according to excerpts published by the Daily Mail.

“It is hard to see why, given his feelings for Diana,” he adds.

Why Spencer objected to the funeral procession

Diana and Charles had separated in 1992 and finalized their divorce in 1996, just a year before Diana died.

For Spencer, that made Charles’ insistence on walking behind her coffin difficult to understand. He points out in the memoir that an ex-spouse would not normally be expected to serve as the chief mourner at a former spouse’s funeral.

Yet, according to Spencer, Charles was “adamant” that he should be part of the procession.

The issue became even more complicated when officials decided that Diana’s two young sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, should also walk behind their mother’s coffin.

William was 15 at the time, while Harry was 12.

Spencer says Sir Robin Janvrin, then Queen Elizabeth II’s deputy private secretary, told the funeral committee that Spencer himself needed to be persuaded to walk alongside Charles.

According to Spencer, the reasoning was partly about protecting Charles from the reaction of the enormous crowd that had gathered to mourn Diana.

He says the committee feared that if Charles walked alone, members of the public might shout abuse at him.

The proposed solution was to have William and Harry join Charles, Spencer and the rest of the procession. Spencer says officials believed the presence of the two boys would make it less likely that the crowd would direct insults toward their father.

The funeral took place on Sept. 6, 1997, at Westminster Abbey, following Diana’s death in Paris on Aug. 31.

Spencer wanted William and Harry protected

The question of whether William and Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin became particularly sensitive for Spencer.

He says that the day before the funeral, Colonel Malcom Ross, who headed the Lord Chamberlain’s Office at the time, called him to discuss the arrangement.

Ross told Spencer that William and Harry had agreed to participate, provided their grandfather, Prince Philip, walked with them.

Spencer says he accepted the arrangement, but made one condition clear.

He wrote a handwritten note stating that the boys should not be “dragooned” into taking part.

According to Spencer, Colonel Ross assured him that the princes were not being forced.

Even so, Spencer says he remained uncomfortable with the idea.

His concerns eventually led to a confrontation with Charles.

A heated call with then-Prince Charles

Spencer recalls that Charles later contacted him directly.

According to the memoir, Charles began the conversation by saying, “I gather you’ve got a problem with the funeral arrangements.”

What followed, Spencer says, was an angry exchange.

He describes the then-Prince of Wales as unleashing a “stream of anger” during the call after Spencer objected to the arrangements.

Spencer’s account portrays the disagreement as more than a dispute over protocol. He believed his nephews were being placed in an emotionally difficult position at a time when they had only just lost their mother.

Ultimately, however, the arrangement went ahead.

Prince Philip, Prince William, Charles Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles all walked behind Diana’s coffin as it traveled from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey.

The scene became one of the defining images of Diana’s funeral, with the two young princes walking alongside their father, grandfather and uncle as thousands of mourners lined the route.

The official Westminster Abbey record confirms that Diana’s funeral service took place on Saturday, Sept. 6, 1997, at 11 a.m.

Spencer’s eulogy for Diana

At Westminster Abbey, Spencer delivered a 12-minute eulogy for his sister.

In one of the most memorable passages of the speech, he described Diana as “the most hunted person of the modern age.”

The funeral followed an extraordinary period of public mourning after Diana’s death at the age of 36. Her coffin had been taken to Kensington Palace before the funeral, and after the service it was transported to the Spencer family estate at Althorp, where she was privately buried.

Nearly 30 years later, Spencer is returning to that week in his memoir.

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is presented as his account of Diana’s life and the final week of her life, told from the perspective of her younger brother. Publisher information says the book is scheduled for release Sept. 22, 2026.

A troubled marriage between Diana and Charles

Spencer’s recollections also revisit the difficult relationship between Diana and Charles.

The couple married in 1981, separated in 1992 and divorced in 1996.

Their marriage was marked by extramarital relationships on both sides. Charles’ relationship with Camilla, who is now Queen Camilla, became one of the defining sources of tension surrounding the breakdown of the marriage.

In Swan Song, Spencer also recounts what he says happened after Diana’s death, including an alleged remark from Charles that she would be forgotten “soon enough.”

That claim has become one of the most contentious revelations from the book.

Spencer says the remark came during the dispute over Diana’s funeral arrangements, when he was objecting to William and Harry walking behind their mother’s coffin.

According to his account, Charles responded angrily and made the alleged comment during their phone conversation.

Buckingham Palace pushes back on Spencer’s account

King Charles has disputed Spencer’s claims.

In a statement issued to Page Six on Wednesday, a Buckingham Palace spokesperson did not address each allegation individually but pointed to the effect grief can have on memory and judgment.

“His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,” the spokesperson said.

The wording marked an unusually direct response from the Palace to allegations contained in a forthcoming book. Other reports have likewise noted that the Palace’s response centers on Spencer’s recollection of events rather than offering a point-by-point rebuttal of the memoir.

The disagreement means that the events surrounding Diana’s funeral are now being presented through two sharply different perspectives: Spencer’s memories as Diana’s brother and the Palace’s suggestion that decades of grief may have affected those memories.

Prince Harry was reportedly aware of the claims

Page Six also reported that Prince Harry, now 42, was aware of at least some of the claims in his uncle’s book.

A source cited by the publication said the allegations were not “a shock” to the Duke of Sussex.

The memoir’s revelations come as the royal family approaches the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death, giving Spencer’s account renewed attention.

Spencer has said the book was prompted in part by repeated requests for interviews about his sister and his desire to put his own memories on record rather than continue seeing what he considers inaccurate versions of Diana’s story.

The publisher describes Swan Song as an account of Diana’s extraordinary life and death from her brother’s perspective.

For Spencer, the funeral procession remains one of the most emotionally charged episodes in that story. His memoir now offers a behind-the-scenes account of how the decision was made, why he resisted having William and Harry walk behind their mother’s coffin, and how his objections brought him into direct conflict with the future king.

Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is scheduled to hit bookshelves Sept. 22.