Prince William Reportedly Weary as Earl Spencer’s Memoir Deepens Tensions With King Charles

A long-running family dispute has resurfaced with fresh force after Earl Charles Spencer stood by claims about King Charles in his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.

The controversy centers on an alleged conversation between Spencer and the then Prince of Wales shortly after Princess Diana died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. Spencer says Charles made the striking remark, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough,” during an argument over Diana’s funeral arrangements.

Buckingham Palace has since pushed back against Spencer’s recollection, saying grief can affect memory and judgment. Spencer, however, has rejected that suggestion and accused the King of “gaslighting” him.

Against that backdrop, Charlotte Griffiths, editor at large for the Mail on Sunday, has said Prince William is reportedly experiencing what she described as “multigenerational fury” over the latest dispute.

The comments were discussed by GB News presenter Ben Leo as attention turned to William’s reported reaction to another episode of family tension.

Earl Spencer Stands by His Account of the 1997 Dispute

Spencer’s memoir revisits the days immediately following Diana’s death and describes a heated disagreement with Charles over whether her sons, William and Harry, should walk behind their mother’s coffin.

At the time, William was 15 and Harry was 12.

According to Spencer’s account, he objected when a senior aide to Queen Elizabeth II told him that the two boys would take part in the funeral procession. Spencer has said he believed Diana would not have wanted her sons to endure what he regarded as an emotionally difficult public ordeal.

He claims that, shortly afterward, Charles called him and insisted that William and Harry should participate.

During the argument that followed, Spencer says Charles made the remark about Diana being forgotten “soon enough.” Spencer says he was stunned by the comment and ended the conversation.

The account has since been widely reported following extracts from Swan Song being published ahead of the memoir’s September 22, 2026 release.

Spencer has also made other claims about Charles in the memoir, including allegations concerning Charles’s attitude toward Diana and his reaction to her death. Those claims remain Spencer’s recollections and allegations rather than independently established facts.

Buckingham Palace Challenges Spencer’s Recollection

The Palace response has become a central part of the dispute.

Rather than directly addressing whether Charles used the words Spencer attributes to him, Buckingham Palace issued a statement referring to the effects of grief on memory.

The statement said that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise,” including many years after a loss.

The wording was notable because Buckingham Palace generally does not comment on claims made in books about members of the Royal Family. The response was widely interpreted as a challenge to Spencer’s version of events, while stopping short of directly calling him a liar.

Spencer strongly objected to the Palace’s wording.

Speaking to the Mail on Sunday, he accused Charles of “gaslighting” him and described the Palace response as “astonishingly provocative and below the belt.” He argued that the statement effectively questioned his honesty without directly denying that the conversation had taken place.

Spencer also compared the Palace’s language with the late Queen Elizabeth II’s famous phrase “recollections may vary,” which she used in response to allegations made by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex during their 2021 interview with Oprah Winfrey.

Spencer said he regarded the Queen’s wording as more elegant, while arguing that the same approach was inappropriate in this case.

Why William Is Reportedly Frustrated

It is against this backdrop that Griffiths described William’s reported reaction as “multigenerational fury.”

Speaking about the issue, Griffiths said she believed the description reflected a wider sense of frustration rather than William simply reacting to Spencer’s latest comments.

“It’s really powerful stuff saying he feels this fury and I think that’s true,” she said.

According to Griffiths, William is reportedly tired of seeing the Royal Family repeatedly drawn into controversies rooted in previous generations.

“From what I’m hearing, this is the latest in a string of disasters that has beset the Royal Family that William feels not only furious, but actually quite weary that he has to inherit all this,” she said.

The word “multigenerational,” Griffiths suggested, is particularly relevant because the current dispute is connected to events that date back almost three decades.

Diana’s death, her relationship with Charles, the royal family’s handling of the aftermath and the decisions surrounding her funeral all remain part of the history William inherited long before he became heir to the throne.

Griffiths suggested that William would rather establish a more modern identity for the monarchy than remain associated with disputes that originated with an earlier generation.

William’s Low-Key Approach to Family Life

Griffiths also pointed to William’s private family life as evidence of the quieter approach she believes he is trying to maintain.

She highlighted his use of an e-bike around Windsor and said he had “got on with the job,” drawing a comparison with Queen Camilla.

Away from official duties, William and Princess Catherine have also sought to maintain a relatively ordinary family routine with their children.

The couple have been seen taking their children to school without turning the occasions into major public events, while also participating alongside other parents in sports activities connected with their children’s schools.

That balance between royal responsibilities and family life is consistent with William’s publicly stated emphasis on family. In a 2025 interview, he described school drop-offs and pickups as part of everyday life and said getting the balance between work and family right was important to him.

For Griffiths, that relatively private lifestyle makes the continuing family controversies especially frustrating for William.

“They have a relatively lowkey lifestyle and so he’s so frustrated that this drama follows him wherever he goes,” she said.

She added that William ultimately has limited control over the situation because of the position he is expected to inherit.

“He can’t change it in any way, he just has to put up and shut up,” Griffiths said.

A Family Dispute That Reaches Back to Diana

The latest row has brought the events surrounding Diana’s death back into the spotlight nearly 30 years later.

Spencer’s memoir is explicitly personal, presenting his account of his sister’s life and the period surrounding her death. His recollection of the 1997 conversation with Charles is at the heart of the latest confrontation, while Buckingham Palace has challenged the reliability of memories formed during intense grief.

The funeral itself remains a significant part of the story. William and Harry ultimately walked behind their mother’s coffin, accompanied by members of the Royal Family and Earl Spencer, before the funeral service at Westminster Abbey. William later described walking in the procession as one of the hardest things he had ever done.

The dispute therefore involves more than a single disputed conversation. It has reopened questions about how Diana’s death was handled, the relationship between her family and the Windsors, and the memories carried by those who were closest to her.

For William, as Griffiths portrayed it, the latest controversy represents another episode in a family history that he will eventually inherit along with the Crown.

The Prince of Wales has continued with his public duties while the dispute plays out around him. On June 18, 2026, he visited the Apricot Centre at Huxhams Cross Farm in Dartington, Devon, as part of an engagement focused on regenerative farming, education and wellbeing.

But with Spencer continuing to defend his account and the Palace challenging the reliability of that recollection, the disagreement over events following Diana’s death has become another highly public chapter in the complicated history William is expected to carry into the future.