What King Charles said in first speech since ‘unprecedented’ response to Earl Spencer’s book claims
In his first public appearance since Buckingham Palace responded to claims made in a new memoir by Earl Spencer, King Charles spoke to tech industry leaders of the existential dangers posed by artificial intelligence.
Speaking at a summit at Dumfries House, the King urged executives from OpenAI, Google DeepMind, and Nvidia to ensure humanity remains sacred as AI advances.
He has declined to comment further after his initial statement, in which the Palace said the King is “mindful” of how grief can colour memory.
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 17:30
Watch: Royal expert questions timing of Earl Spencer book releaseRoyal expert questions timing of Earl Spencer book release
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 17:00
When is Earl Spencer’s book due to be released?
Earl Spencer’s book titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is set to be released globally on Tuesday.
However, the pages have been serialised by the Daily Mail, leaking some of the most explosive allegations ahead of publication.
An interview with Diana’s brother and BBC broadcaster Laura Kuenssberg will also be released on Sunday evening, in which more revelations are expected.
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 16:30
Earl Spencer insists he is telling the ‘truth’ over King allegations
Earl Spencer has insisted he is “telling the truth” over the explosive allegation the King said “we’ll forget her soon enough” following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Charles Spencer has made a series of damning claims about the King in a new memoir chronicling his sister Diana that prompted an “unprecedented” response from Buckingham Palace who said “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason”.
But in an extract of an interview with the BBC, Earl Spencer questioned whether the official response showed if the King was furious or embarrassed by the claim.
Speaking about an alleged row over Diana’s funeral arrangements involving her sons, the earl said: “(The King) went ballistic, would be the right term, and started really going for my family as a whole, about their sense of duty, not being adequate enough, and ranted for a while, I have no idea how long, but it was a significant period, and I just listened.
“And then he stopped, and I thought, ‘Oh now he’s going to pull himself together and say something more appropriate’.
“And then he said, ‘We’ll forget her soon enough’.”
Asked whether he has “evidence” of the King’s comments, the earl told the BBC: “I told friends and family straight away, close friends and family, about what had been said, because it was so monstrous.”
He added: “I’m telling the truth.”
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 16:00
Earl’s claims: Public reaction to Diana’s divorce was ‘main worry’
In an excerpt from his memoir, Earl Spencer has said that the public’s reaction was his “main worry” when Diana shared that she was getting a divorce.
In an extract from the bombshell book serialised by the Daily Mail, he described his conversation with Diana: “I was silent for a moment. I had known things were bad, but not this bad.”
The earl said he then told his sister his “main worry” was the public because he worried that “they won’t forgive you”.
“They’ve bought into a fairytale, and I reckon they may well – wrongly – blame you for destroying their fantasy,” he told her.
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 15:30
Charles Spencer’s book is Diana’s unfinished business – Harry’s documentary will finish it
As Buckingham Palace hits back at the claims of King Charles’s reaction to the death of Diana, Dan Wakeford, former People editor and founder of the Celebrity Intelligence website, looks at why her brother is publishing his tell-all now, and how the next 12 months will be about settling scores.
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 15:00
Charles Spencer’s Princess Diana memoir stolen from lorry
Copies of Charles Spencer’s new memoir about his sister Princess Diana have been stolen from a lorry ahead of its release date, according to reports.
The book, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, is set to be released globally next Tuesday (22 September) – but copies have been snatched from a lorry in the Netherlands, with Dutch police reportedly investigating the break-in.
A source told the Daily Mail: “It’s extremely suspicious. Nothing like this has ever happened before. This is probably the biggest book of the year and the security surrounding it has been incredibly tight.”
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 14:30
Watch: King Charles issues rare response to Earl Spencer’s Diana book claimsKing Charles issues rare response to Earl Spencer’s Diana book claims
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 14:00
Charles called Diana ‘chubby’ after engagement, claims Spencer’s memoir
Diana suffered from an eating disorder which worsened after Charles called her “chubby,” Earl Spencer has claimed in his bombshell memoir.
In an extract from his book, serialised in the Daily Mail, the Earl claims that ahead of his sister’s wedding, Prince Charles had squeezed Diana’s waist and said, “Oh, a bit chubby here, aren’t we?”
The earl said his sister found the comment “devastating,” later telling him that her “waist shrank from 29 to 23 and a half inches between her engagement and her marriage,” which were five months apart in 1981.
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 13:30
Royal expert suspects ‘collusion’ and ‘guilt’ behind Earl Spencer’s bombshell claims
A war of words has broken out between the royal family and Princess Diana’s brother over allegations made in his upcoming memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.
Revelations from the book, serialised by the Daily Mail before it is published on Tuesday (22 September), have so far focused on the King’s behaviour, from alleged statements he made to Diana before their marriage to the Earl’s claims about comments the King made to him before her funeral.
Richard Fitzwilliams told The Independent he believes Earl Spencer is “haunted … by demons of himself” and that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex had some part to play.
”Timing all this just so happens it’s just after Harry and Meghan have come back… The Sussexes, whether they actually saw the manuscript or what they knew about it, of course, I don’t know. But I’m absolutely certain that there was some form of collusion or appears to have been.”
Nicole Wootton-Cane19 September 2026 13:00