‘Gaslit by the King’: Diana’s brother escalates feud with Palace over memoir

London, September 20 — Charles Spencer, brother of Princess Diana, unleashed a scathing attack on King Charles III, accusing him of "gaslighting" him over his memoir claims about events surrounding her death. In a scathing piece for the Mail on Sunday, Spencer asserted: "It is not every day you wake up to find you’ve been gaslit by the King". The memoir, "Swan Song", is set for release Tuesday.

Responding to the memoir's revelations, Buckingham Palace issued a rare statement on Thursday. A spokesperson commented: "The 77-year-old king is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss". This reaction came after Spencer's allegations, including a claim that then-Prince Charles had told him during a phone call shortly after Diana's 1997 death: "Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough". Spencer alleged Charles sounded "dizzily elated — like a lottery winner".

The 62-year-old aristocrat dismissed the Palace's statement, calling it "astonishingly provocative and below the belt". He likened it to the Palace's response to Prince Harry and his wife Meghan's claims of royal racism in an interview with Oprah Winfrey five years ago — where the Palace stated "recollections may vary". Spencer, a former US television journalist, has penned books on history and his school days.

He inherited the estate where Diana is buried. Following her death, he accused the media of having "blood on their hands". At Diana's funeral, he vowed to always look out for her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry.