Princess Diana’s brother backs Harry’s biggest claims in bombshell TV interviews

Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer has backed Prince Harry’s biggest claims about events that unfolded following the death of his mother and likened Harry and Meghan’s experiences with that of his sister, in two bombshell interviews with CBS and BBC that aired overnight.

“I do sometimes wonder about the situation, if I can call it that, Harry’s feelings. I wonder how much of that is connected to this very sad time,” Spencer, 62, told CBS, adding that he feels his youngest nephew needed “a more caring hand”.

Of Prince Harry’s fight for publicly-funded protection in the UK, Spencer told BBC he feels it is warranted.

“I would say that I personally worry about the fifth-in-line to the throne who’s served in the military not having any police protection,” Spencer said.

"As an uncle who's seen his sister die in very, very preventable circumstances, that I would veer towards protection."

The funeral and Prince Harry’s wariness with the press

Spencer recalled the funeral in the CBS interview, repeating his account of events shared in his book Swan Song: My sister, Diana: “He was so young, he was also so tiny. I remember walking beside him and thinking, ‘This little boy should not have to walk behind his mother’s coffin,’ and I just wonder if a gentler more understanding treatment of his grief then might have helped him, and that everyone might have found a happier course ahead.”

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He added that the thought of her sons Prince William and Prince Harry walking behind her coffin at the public funeral was “absurd”, adding that Diana wouldn’t have wanted that. Spencer said he expressed this to Buckingham officials but was overruled, and was eventually told the boys “wanted to do it”. He now believes that was a lie, but admitted he’s never discussed this with William and Harry.

Spencer said he has since been told that the choice was made to protect King Charles from the reaction of the crowd who had gathered.

He told CBS he believed Prince Harry’s wariness about the press today is directly connected to the circumstances of his mother’s death. Diana died in a car accident in Paris while being chased by paparazzi.

It was later found that the driver of her vehicle, Henri Paul, was three times over the limit of France’s alcohol consumption laws for drivers. Spencer said that while he understands Paul’ inebriation contributed to his sister’s death, he still squarely blames the media, alleging that members of the media later admitted this to him and apologised.

Spencer told BBC in a second interview his comments regarding the funeral “will not be a surprise” to the brothers.

Prince William’s grief ‘secondary’

In the book, excerpts of which have been published in the Daily Mail in the UK, Spencer wrote: “I could not get over how tiny, and slight, and bereft, Harry looked. Too small to be doing this, I thought, and wondered how on earth this heartbroken child could bear the ordeal of that moment, or how he could possibly be expected to deal with the agony that the day ahead would insist upon.”

He added that William was the perfect image of his mother, appearing more reserved than his brother, although royal experts have since pointed out that Prince William was only two years older than his younger brother and despite outward appearances, was clearly suffering just as much.

Spencer said he attempted to comfort his youngest nephew during the short time they were away from the public eye.

“He needed Diana’s hugs, of course, and they would forever be denied him,” Spencer continued in the book. “But instead of calm and nurture, he was allowed to spin out of control.”

Spencer doubled down on claims of clashes with King Charles in the televised interview, as well as his concerns for Harry.

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In an interview with CBS, Spencer claimed Earl Spencer spoke about Prince Harry, saying: “I just wonder if a gentler, more understanding treatment of his grief then might have helped him.”

“That everyone might have found a happier course ahead.”

In June 2017, Harry spoke about the experience of walking behind his mother’s coffin in an interview with Newsweek, saying no child “should be asked to do that under any circumstances”.

“My mother had just died, and I had to walk a long way behind her coffin, surrounded by thousands of people watching me while millions more did on television,” he said.

“I don’t think any child should be asked to do that, under any circumstances. I don’t think it would happen today.”

Royal correspondent Victoria Arbiter has since taken to X to point out that Prince William was only two years older than his younger brother, and his suffering mattered just as much.

“At his tender age, William was his mother’s closet confidante. He was already shouldering more than he should have and yet his grief has been considered ‘secondary’ for three decades,” Arbiter wrote.

“He’s the only one to have not capitalised on his mother’s death.”

Prince William spoke of the trauma of his mother’s death in a 2017 BBC documentary marking 20 years since Diana’s death, saying it was a “very long, lonely walk” at her funeral.

“I felt if I looked at the floor and my hair came down over my face, no one could see me,” William said. “I just remember hiding behind my fringe, basically, at a time when I had a lot of hair, and my head’s down a lot, so I’m hiding behind my fringe.”

He said it wasn’t an easy decision to agree to walk behind the coffin at the funeral.

“It was a sort of collective family decision,” he said. “There is that balance between duty and family, and that’s what we had to do.” He added that there were two competing forces within him at the time, him being “Prince William and having to do my bit, versus the private William, who just wanted to go into a room and cry, who’d lost his mother”.

In that same documentary, Harry was asked if he thought he and William should have walked behind the coffin. He responded: “I genuinely don’t have an opinion on whether that was right or wrong. I am glad I was part of it. Looking back on it now, I am very glad I was part of it.”

Of the estrangement between Prince William and Prince Harry today, Spencer told CBS it is “very sad when siblings fall out and that’s the truth”.

In a strongly-worded response to the book claims, Buckingham Palace: “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.”