Earl Spencer claims King Charles is ‘gaslighting’ him amid drama surrounding upcoming memoir

Earl Spencer has claimed that King Charles is “gaslighting” him amid a feud sparked by “explosive” claims in the earl’s upcoming memoir, Swan Song.

In his memoir, the earl claimed that following his sister Princess Diana’s death, the King said, “we’ll forget her soon enough”. Buckingham Palace then released a statement denying the claim.

“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 statement read.

The earl has now responded, referring to the statement as a “rather poor imitation of the ‘recollections may vary’ quote”, seemingly referring to the late Queen’s response to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s Oprah Winfrey interview.

“It is not every day you wake up to find you’ve been gaslit by the King,” he said.

“It was astonishingly provocative and below the belt because it was essentially trying to say I’d lied without the King being able to deny what I’d said.”

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‘I’m telling the truth’: Earl Spencer doubles down on claims of reaction to Diana’s death

In an extract of a BBC interview, the earl assured that he is “telling the truth” and referred to the King’s alleged remark about his sister as “monstrous”.

When asked if he had any evidence of the comment, the earl said that he told his friends and family about it straight away, but could not provide any hard evidence.

In the memoir, detailing the life of Diana, the earl claimed that the comment came during an argument following her death regarding whether Prince William and Prince Harry should follow the coffin.

He claimed that there was a “lack of obvious care” for Harry, who was 12 at the time, following his mother’s death.

“My chief memory of that train journey is of being concerned at the lack of obvious care for Harry, as he decompressed from the ghastliness of the morning,” he wrote.

“He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him.

“But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control.”