Charles Spencer has shared his personal view on the rift between his nephews, Prince William and Prince Harry.
The siblings are no longer in contact; they are last said to have spoken briefly at the funeral of their grandmother, the late Queen. And a reconciliation seems a long way off, according to those close to William.
Now their uncle has opened up about the fall-out, and revealed where he stands.
Charles spoke on the matter during an interview with the BBC to promote his new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.
When asked about the tumultuous relationship between William, 44, and Harry, 42, the 62-year-old said, “I think there is a perception in the media that I am on Harry’s side. Well, I’m on my deceased sister’s sons’ side, both of them.
“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.
He further told interviewer Laura Kuenssberg that there are a “lot of reasons on both sides” why William and Harry’s relationship has “got to this stage”.
“I hope one day it’s resolved,” he added. “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.”
Other major takeaways from the interview
‘I know lots of things about the King’ not in the book’
Asked about his motivation for writing his bombshell book, Charles Spencer said it was his “duty… as an eyewitness to history”.
“I’m aware of mortality and I wanted to just put things down once and for all that were true,” he said. “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.”
When put to him that his statement sounded like a threat that involved potentially damaging information, he said: “No, not at all a threat, it’s just the reality.”
Concerns for Harry and Meghan and their protection
Charles was reluctant to discuss how he thinks Prince Harry has been treated by the Royal Family, but said he was concerned about his security.
“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,” he said.
“As an uncle who’s seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, that I would veer towards protection.”
He also drew similarities between the press treatment of Princess Diana, and the Sussexes. “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,” the Earl said.
“[Diana] was really brought low by all that criticism. And yeah I suppose it’s a pity when I see echoes of that now.”
Comments ‘will not be a surprise’ to William and Harry
Earl Spencer again spoke about the row regarding Princess Diana’s funeral arrangements, in which he objected to Prince William and Prince Harry walking behind their mother’s coffin.
He recalled a call from then-Prince Charles, who asked him about his opposition. “I said, ‘Well, of course not, sir, she wouldn’t want it’. And then he said, ‘Well, I walked behind Lord Mountbatten’s coffin.’ And I said, ‘Yes, but you were 30 and he wasn’t your mother’.”
He then claims Charles went “ballistic… and ranted for a while” about the Spencer family’s sense of duty not being adequate enough before “he said, ‘We’ll forget her [Diana] soon enough’.”
“I really was so stunned and after a stunned silence I said ‘I can not believe you just said that’ and I hung up on him”, the earl said.
Responding to the Palace’s statement refuting his claims, he said: “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.
“I’ve only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage in my life. I was hyper-alert to what he was saying, and those are precisely the words he said. And I promise that to you now. Genuinely, that is what he said. I don’t hear him saying he didn’t say that.”
Charles said he told “close friends and family” about the “monstrous” comment.
When asked if people should believe him or the King, he said: “Well, I’m telling the truth… what else would have made me hang up on the King that day?”
On what William and Harry might think of the comments being brought up nearly 30 years later, he added the words “will not be a surprise” to the brothers.
Royal response to Charles Spencer’s claims
It’s not known how Prince William and Prince Harry are reacting to the bombshell book behind closed doors. But experts have noted that, more than anything, they would want their mother’s memory laid to rest.
According to Katie Nicholl – author of the book The New Royals: “It’s hard to know how they’re feeling because ultimately, [Earl Spencer’s book bombshell is happening…] at a moment in time nearly 30 years on, when they want their mother’s memory laid to rest, they want her legacy honored, and continued in their charity work…
“To have it overshadowed with arguments, fallouts, rifts… that are now resurfacing three decades on, can surely not be what any of them want.
“And also, one has to imagine that for the King – these statements have come on the eve of a very important official engagement at a time of great flux and uncertainty for the Royal Family, when the King is trying his best to keep his tiller on an unsteady ship – this must come as quite a blow. I do understand that the Palace were bracing themselves for an explosive book, which very much seems to be the case.”
Reconciliation, however, seems unlikely. As Katie points out, it’s simply “not a priority” for Prince William, who is said to be unable to forgive his younger brother for comments he made about the royal family – in particular, Princess Kate.
King Charles, meanwhile, has made his position crystal clear. A little over an hour after the first excerpt from the book was published in the Daily Mail, in which the Earl alleged the “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough” comment, the Palace hit back.
“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,” the statement read.
Ingrid Seward, author of Catherine & Diana: The inside story, highlighted the unprecedented response from the King, regarding the claims, telling HELLO!: “I think that Charles felt very strongly about this, because I’ve never heard a statement like this before. And he must have considered the implications of it and realised, you know, this is going to cause more agony, so he felt so strongly. I think that it was put out pretty swiftly.”
Has Earl Spencer ruined his relationship with William and Harry?
It remains to be seen whether Earl Spencer will continue to have a relationship with his nephews moving forward. Speaking on HELLO!’s Right Royal Podcast, HELLO!’s Royal Editor, Emily Nash, said: “Well, to the best of my knowledge, I don’t think he’s particularly close to William. We know Harry stayed with him back in July when he was in the UK.
“So they do have a somewhat closer relationship, but it puts Harry in a difficult situation because, however much he may like to wear his heart on his sleeve when he talks about his mother, he’s been very passionate about being attached to her legacy and wanting to bring that into pretty much everything he does; on the other hand, we know he’s trying to reconcile with his father. So where does this leave him? He can’t very well support what his uncle is saying.”
She continued: “But William is the person, I think, maybe in the most difficult situation, because whatever his feelings behind the scenes, he has to keep the show on the road. This is his future and his family’s future. And if you’re lobbing a grenade at the institution… Really? Because it’s not just the King who’s being accused of things here, it’s the whole palace machinery. And of course we know from everything that happened around the Panorama scandal, William is sick of people capitalising on his mother’s memory to make money. So I do wonder what he feels about this.”
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