The then-Prince Charles sounded “giddily elated—like a lottery winner” after hearing the news of the 1997 death of Princess Diana in a Paris traffic incident, according to a new book by Charles Spencer, brother of Diana. The book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister is scheduled to be released next week, but extracts are already being published in the Daily Mail. Spencer also wrote that while discussing funeral arrangements Prince Charles said, “We’ll forget her soon enough.” Public relations staff at Buckingham Palace are flatly denying all of the claims.

Charles Spencer has long exposed the cruelties and excesses of the British establishment. In early 2024 Spencer wrote another book, A Very Private School exposing the child abuse at elite British boarding schools and its lasting impact on much of what is now the British leadership.