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King Charles III has shared a scathing response to claims made in a forthcoming memoir by Princess Diana's brother, Charles Spencer.
Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, is set to release his new book, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, on September 22.
The book promises to be the "most intimate, loving and honest portrait yet of his sister," who died at the age of 36 on August 31, 1997, following a devastating car crash in a tunnel in Paris while her driver was fleeing the paparazzi.
The synopsis reads: "In childhood, Charles and Diana, the youngest Spencers, were inseparable – secretly calling one another Duch and Carlos.
"As each other’s closest confidantes, they roamed the family estate, endured extremely challenging boarding schools, survived terrifying nannies and helped each other through the agony of their parents’ divorce.
"Yet everything changed when Diana married the Prince of Wales, now King Charles III, and overnight became a global icon. Charles saw his older sister serve the world’s marginalized and relish being mother to her treasured sons.
"But, pursued by a barbaric press as her royal marriage crumbled, she was left desperately alone. Charles always tried to be there for Diana – until that black night in August, 1997."
According to reports from Page Six, one particular claim made in the memoir has sparked a cutting response from King Charles III.
Spencer alleged that the monarch vowed his ex-wife would be forgotten "soon enough" after her tragic death, describing the remark as his "pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death," per the Daily Mail.
A statement shared by a Buckingham Palace spokesperson firmly rebutted the allegation, saying: "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."
King Charles, now 77, married Diana in 1981 and the couple - who shared sons Prince William and Harry - divorced in 1996, a year before her death.
In the book, her brother also reflected on Diana's funeral at Westminster Abbey, claiming that he'd received a call from the late Queen Elizabeth II's aide just days before to sat that William and Harry - then 15 and 12 years old respectively - would not be participating in the funeral procession.
Spencer claims he told the aide: "That’s not going to happen," and the young boys both walked the procession alongside him and the late Prince Philip.
The book also speaks about Charles and Diana's relationship, from their lavish royal wedding at St. Paul's Cathedral in London, to the messy downfall of their marriage and Charles' subsequent relationship with Camilla Parker-Bowles.
Charles and Camilla - who Diana referred to as the 'third person' in their marriage - went on to tie the knot in 2005, following her divorce from Andrew Parker Bowles in 1995.
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