King Charles issues response to Princess Diana's brother over brazen claims on her death

Buckingham Palace has released a statement in response to a damning claim about King Charles made in a memoir written by Princess Diana's brother, Earl Spencer.

Diana, Princess of Wales, died on August 31, 1997 at the age of 36 years old after being involved in a car crash in Paris.

Nearly two decades later, her brother, Charles Edward Maurice Spencer - Earl Spencer - has written a memoir titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister which is set to be serialised in the Daily Mail.

Within the first excerpt, released earlier today (September 17), Spencer claimed in the days following Diana's death, her ex-husband, then-Prince Charles told him: "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough".

The comment was allegedly made when the pair were discussing arrangements for Diana's funeral allegedly clashing over the agreed role of Diana and Charles' two sons, Prince William and Harry, aged 15 and 12 at the time.

A representative of Buckingham Palace has since shared a statement in response to the excerpt, noting the now-King Charles is 'mindful' of the 'pain of fraternal grief'.

Earl Spencer's memoir is set to be released soon (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

The full statement reads: "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 response follows Spencer alleging he and Charles clashed over whether William and Harry should walk in their mother's funeral procession alongside her coffin or not.

Spencer claims he argued it's not what Diana would've wanted, but was met with a response from Charles responding with "a stream of anger" and "unleashing down the phone" what he took "to be his pent-up contempt for Diana".

Charles then made the alleged comment about forgetting her, prompting Spencer to reportedly state his disbelief before hanging up the phone.

Alongside Spencer's recent claims being met with a swift statement from Buckingham Palace, Spencer's first glimpses to his memoir have provoked outrage from multiple Royal commentators.

The pair allegedly disagreed over the role in which Prince Harry and William would play within the procession (David Levenson/Getty Images)

The King's former communications secretary between 2016 and 2021, Julian Payne, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he doesn't 'recognise the way the King is characterised in those remarks'.

BBC royal correspondent Sean Coughlan similarly viewed them as 'entirely out of character' calling Charles 'a man with a deeply compassionate nature, who at the time was dealing with his own grief and that of their two sons'.

Sky News' royal correspondent Laura Bundock reviewed Buckingham Palace's statement as "very unusual" but a "remarkable intervention" and a "beyond punchy" but "very robust response".

It follows Prince Harry reflecting on how "glad" he was in hindsight to have joined the procession for his mother.

Despite voicing the belief walking behind a coffin aged 12 was something no child 'should be asked to do,' Prince Harry later told the BBC he no longer had 'an opinion whether that was right or wrong' and was glad 'looking back' he was involved.

In the 2017 interview he voiced support for his father's handling of the immensely difficult time.

"One of the hardest things for a parent to have to do is to tell your children that your other parent has died," Harry said. "How you deal with that I don't know but, you know, he was there for us."

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