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Diana’s brother or King Charles: who’s telling the truth? · The Front

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: From The Australian, here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: It's Monday, September 21, 2026. The murder trial of former
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: police officer Beau Lamar Condon begins in the New South
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: Wales Supreme Court today. Lamar Condon is accused of killing
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: TV presenter Jesse Baird and his partner, flight attendant Luke Davies,
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: in 2024. Lamar Condon has pleaded not guilty to two
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: counts of domestic violence-related murder and one count of aggravated
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: break and enter. The trial is expected to run for
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: about three months. Shocking allegations against the King, raised by
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: his former brother-in-law. It's the new royal drama centred on
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: the aftermath of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: So why is Charles Spencer choosing this moment, 29 years later,
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  Speaker 1: to accuse King Charles? And what does it mean for
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  Speaker 1: Diana's sons? That's today's story.
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  Speaker 2: We have interrupted our programs.
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  Speaker 3: For a news report.
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  Speaker 4: We are getting reports that Diana, Princess of Wales, has
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  Speaker 4: been badly injured in.
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  Speaker 5: A car crash in France.
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  Speaker 2: Diana, Princess of Wales, has died. I have a terrible
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  Speaker 2: feeling that this is true.
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  Speaker 5: We will bring you more news as soon as we
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  Speaker 5: have it.
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  Speaker 1: It's one of those days we all remember. Where were
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: you on the day Princess Diana died in 1997? I
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: was a young reporter at The Australian where our page
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: one read, People's Princess dead at 36.
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  Speaker 2: I was actually in Perth in Western Australia and I
• 1:38
  Speaker 2: was covering a world cycling championships.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne is The Australian's Europe correspondent and covers the
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: royals along with many other things.
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  Speaker 2: And of course, the news was such a bombshell. But
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: of course, there were British team members competing at those championships,
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: and one of them was crying. And it was such
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: a shock for everybody. And I think just seeing someone
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: instantly show that kind of emotion really hit home how
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  Speaker 2: dramatic and traumatic it was for everyone, even from the
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: very beginning of the news.
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  Speaker 1: Memories are being stirred up now because Charles Spencer, Diana's brother,
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  Speaker 1: has written a memoir about his and Diana's lives and, crucially,
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  Speaker 1: the days and weeks surrounding her death. How's it gone
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  Speaker 1: down in the United Kingdom, Jack?
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  Speaker 2: Well, like a lead balloon, everybody is horrified that Charles
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  Speaker 2: Spencer's not only dredging up stories about his sister that
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: happened nearly three decades ago, but that, you know, his
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  Speaker 2: personal animosity against the king is is very much prevalent
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: in some of the very inflammatory headlines that we've been seeing,
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  Speaker 2: claiming that the king was giddily excited when he found
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  Speaker 2: out that Diana had died, that he was free to
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: now marry Camilla, that the palace was also very excited
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  Speaker 2: at the news. These kind of words are very strong words.
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  Speaker 2: And people at that time, I've spoken to several aides
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  Speaker 2: who worked with Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth at that time,
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  Speaker 2: and they say, we just don't recognise any of this,
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  Speaker 2: that this is just not what happened. Charles was grief-stricken.
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  Speaker 2: He was so distraught. He'd had to tell the two boys,
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  Speaker 2: Prince William and Prince Harry, who were 15 and 12
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  Speaker 2: at the time, asleep in their beds in Balmoral. He
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: waited till the morning to wake them up. He wanted
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: them to have a sleep because he knew that this
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  Speaker 2: would be the worst day of their lives. And so
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  Speaker 2: Charles was dealing with all this trauma. And when he
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: rang Charles Spencer to also talk to him and perhaps
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: offer condolences, Charles Spencer now says that Charles was very
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: strangely cold in that conversation and I think anyone who's
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: been through grief and suffered a death of a close
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  Speaker 2: loved one and even perhaps an ex-spouse can recognise that
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  Speaker 2: people go into shock. People do perhaps come across as
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  Speaker 2: feeling very cold and distant. So I don't find that
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  Speaker 2: strange at all. But apparently Charles Spencer did and he's
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: now taken nearly 30 years to unload on his feelings
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  Speaker 2: about that time in a book.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he's described the then Prince Charles as a buffoon,
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  Speaker 1: as barbaric, as exploding with rage when Charles Spencer says
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  Speaker 1: that he objected to the idea that the young princes,
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  Speaker 1: Harry and William, would walk behind Diana's coffin.
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  Speaker 5: I remember the occasional wail and screaming of someone. I
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  Speaker 5: remember the horse hooves on the road, the bridles of
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  Speaker 5: the horses, the gun carriage, the wheels. the occasional gravel
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  Speaker 5: stone underneath your shoe, but mainly the silence.
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  Speaker 1: That fight about whether or not the young princes would
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  Speaker 1: walk behind Diana's coffin has resonated throughout the years and
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  Speaker 1: it's something that Prince Harry has raised again and again
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  Speaker 1: as a grievance that he has with the royal family
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  Speaker 1: that he felt that he was forced into it and
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  Speaker 1: that it was insensitive. But both William and Harry have
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  Speaker 1: been defensive about their father over the years, haven't they?
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  Speaker 1: They've not been anywhere near as harsh as Charles Spencer
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  Speaker 1: is being now. No.
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  Speaker 2: Well, you have to remember that this is their father. And,
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  Speaker 2: you know, they have a lot of understanding and sympathy
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  Speaker 2: for the situation he was put in, in having to
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  Speaker 2: tell his sons. Harry has even spoken about this, saying,
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  Speaker 2: you know, I just can't imagine as a parent having
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  Speaker 2: to tell your children that their mother has died.
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  Speaker 5: I was in shock. You know, you're 12 years old.
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  Speaker 5: sort of 7, 7.30 in the morning, early, your father
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  Speaker 5: comes in, sits on your bed, puts his hand on
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  Speaker 5: your knee and tells you there's been an accident. I
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  Speaker 5: couldn't believe.
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  Speaker 2: So there is enormous understanding and respect of their father
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  Speaker 2: in how he handled it and also the Queen. who
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  Speaker 2: also insisted at that time that the boys stay in Balmoral,
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  Speaker 2: away from all of the headlines and the grieving of
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  Speaker 2: a nation, that they could stay in peace in Balmoral,
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  Speaker 2: away from all of this for as long as possible.
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  Speaker 2: And Prince Charles, of course, also supported this. The decision
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  Speaker 2: of the two boys to walk behind the cortege is
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  Speaker 2: an interesting one. And there's many different stories we hear
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  Speaker 2: about this. Charles Spencer, of course, insisted on walking. King
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  Speaker 2: Charles also insisted on walking. Then Charles asked the boys
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  Speaker 2: if they wanted to. William did not. Harry was a
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  Speaker 2: bit agnostic about the decision. He just wanted to do
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  Speaker 2: what his brother was doing. It was Prince Philip, the
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  Speaker 2: boy's grandfather, who said, look, if you want to walk,
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  Speaker 2: I'll walk with you. And They decided to do that.
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  Speaker 2: It's been portrayed that perhaps Prince Philip was demanding that
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  Speaker 2: the boys walk, but others inside the palace that I've
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  Speaker 2: spoken to said, no, that's not at all. He was
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  Speaker 2: very much concerned about their welfare and, in fact, pushed
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  Speaker 2: back with the funeral planners on many of the aspects
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  Speaker 2: of the funeral, just exploding at one point, saying, for
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  Speaker 2: goodness sake, they're boys. This is their mother that has died.
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  Speaker 2: Just have some respect. I think those involved at the time,
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  Speaker 2: emotions were incredibly raw. And so it's extraordinary now that
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  Speaker 2: 30 years on, Earl Spencer's had many occasions in which
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: to talk about this. Five years after Princess Diana's death,
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  Speaker 2: he was interviewed by Larry King on CNN and was
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  Speaker 2: asked about his relationship with King Charles at the time
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  Speaker 2: and around the time of the funeral and around the
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  Speaker 2: time of him making his speech and eulogy in the church.
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  Speaker 2: And he said Charles had no problems.
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  Speaker 4: It's a great pleasure to welcome Earl Charles Spencer to
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  Speaker 4: Larry King Live.
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  Speaker 2: He's at our studios in New York.
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  Speaker 3: He'll be with us for the full hour. His book.
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  Speaker 2: So, you know, it's interesting now that he's Charles Spencer
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  Speaker 2: on his fourth wife, seven children, and he didn't attend
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  Speaker 2: several of his children's marriages. So there's clearly some dramas
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  Speaker 2: within his own family that now feels it time to
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  Speaker 2: unload on issues that happened a very, very long time
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  Speaker 2: ago about a sister he hadn't been speaking to and
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  Speaker 2: dredging up a lot of hurt and drama and consternation
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  Speaker 2: to make a bit of money.
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  Speaker 1: He did make that electrifying speech at Diana's funeral.
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  Speaker 4: I stand before you today, the representative of a family
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  Speaker 4: in grief, in a country in mourning, before a world
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  Speaker 4: in shock.
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  Speaker 1: He's saying now that Diana had wanted and that he
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  Speaker 1: wanted Mozart's Requiem Mass to be played at the funeral
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  Speaker 1: and that Buckingham Palace refused. He says they gave him
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  Speaker 1: a spurious reason that turned out not to be true.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think he lived up to that vow that
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  Speaker 1: he made in that funeral speech, Jack, where he said,
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  Speaker 1: you know, to the boys, we will protect you, your
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  Speaker 1: blood family, basically come to me and I will take
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  Speaker 1: care of you?
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  Speaker 4: And I do this here, Diana, on your behalf. we
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  Speaker 4: will not allow them to suffer the anguish that used
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  Speaker 4: regularly to drive you to tearful despair. And beyond that,
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  Speaker 4: on behalf of your mother and sisters, I pledge that we,
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  Speaker 4: your blood family, will do all we can to continue
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  Speaker 4: the imaginative and loving way in which you were steering
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  Speaker 4: these two exceptional young men, so that their souls are
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  Speaker 4: not simply immersed by duty and tradition, but can sing
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  Speaker 4: openly as you planned.
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  Speaker 2: The boys ended up, as we know, continuing on with
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  Speaker 2: their lives. They went to Eton, they continued on with
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  Speaker 2: royal engagements, Harry went into the military. These are things
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  Speaker 2: that would have happened even if Diana had lived. So
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  Speaker 2: I don't think necessarily that the influence of Charles Spencer
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  Speaker 2: has been as profound as what he may have wanted
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  Speaker 2: it at the time of making the eulogy. Of course,
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: he was living overseas. He was in South Africa at
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: the time as well. He does have a very close
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: relationship with Prince Harry. His relationship with Prince William is
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: a little bit more private. We don't know how close
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  Speaker 2: their relationship is because they're never seen in public together.
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  Speaker 2: But certainly Harry... even in his decision to come back
• 10:48
  Speaker 2: to the UK, he was up at Althorp showing his children,
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  Speaker 2: the grave of Diana, speaking with his uncle. So Harry
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  Speaker 2: has a closer relationship that we know of with Earl Spencer.
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  Speaker 2: And there are some people even suggesting that Harry and
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  Speaker 2: Earl Spencer are somehow in cahoots to try and, you know,
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  Speaker 2: create all this drama within the royal family and that
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  Speaker 2: it's not a coincidence that Harry has come back at
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: the time of the launch of this book. Now, I
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  Speaker 2: think that's more of a conspiracy than anything, but that
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  Speaker 2: is a view that's being expressed over here.
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  Speaker 1: One of the really devastating things that Charles Spencer quotes
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  Speaker 1: Prince Charles, now King Charles, is saying is in a
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  Speaker 1: conversation about Diana's funeral arrangements, he says, Rest assured, Charles hissed,
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  Speaker 1: we'll forget Diana soon enough.
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  Speaker 4: And then he said, we'll forget her soon enough.
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  Speaker 1: Do you believe that he would have said that, Jack? No,
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  Speaker 1: I don't.
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  Speaker 2: I don't believe that at all. It's such a specific quote.
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  Speaker 2: It's obviously at a time when emotions are so raw
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  Speaker 2: that people can say, things in the heat of the
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: moment and in frustration. And you can imagine that the
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: two families would have been clashing over the funeral arrangements
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: with the palace courtiers. But I don't recognize that language
• 12:14
  Speaker 2: that Charles would have used and others closer to him
• 12:18
  Speaker 2: certainly don't recognize it at all either. And no one
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: at the time can recall any such argument. So it
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: strikes me to be a little bit fanciful.
• 12:31
  Speaker 1: Here's what Charles Spencer said when challenged by the BBC's
• 12:35
  Speaker 1: Laura Kunzberg.
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  Speaker 3: Which Charles are the public meant to believe? Are they
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: to believe you? Or are they to believe the king,
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: the head of state of this country, who's giving the
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  Speaker 3: impression very forcefully that this didn't happen?
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  Speaker 2: Who are we to believe?
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  Speaker 4: Well, I'm telling the truth.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Coming up, has Buckingham Palace abandoned its mantra, never complain,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: never explain? King Charles and the people around him don't
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: seem to be in a mood to sort of take
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: things lying down at the moment. Earlier this month, Buckingham
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: Palace released a kind of pre-emptive statement about Harry and
• 13:29
  Speaker 1: Meghan's return to the UK saying, you know, just in
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: case anyone was wondering, these people are not royals and
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: they're not to be considered, you know, their royal highnesses.
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  Speaker 1: That then caused a flurry of briefing by Harry and
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  Speaker 1: Meghan that they were shocked and this wasn't very nice
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: and it's ruined, you know, an aspect of the Invictus Games.
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: Then Buckingham Palace released a statement refuting parts of Charles
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: Spence's book. Do you see a change of strategy from
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: Buckingham Palace here?
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  Speaker 2: It is very unusual for them to have issued both
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: of those statements. The first one in regards to Harry
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: and Meghan's status, I think that was to head off
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: a few issues behind the scenes that were occurring about
• 14:08
  Speaker 2: how government officials were to address the couple. And it
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: was made very clear in that letter that they are
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: private individuals, even though they are Duke and Duchess, that
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: they don't carry the honorific of his and her Royal Highness.
• 14:25
  Speaker 2: Harry and Meghan were appalled at this because they didn't
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: want to be classified as private citizens. They want to
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: be public figures. We've seen Harry this week going to
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: his first public function at an Invictus Spirit Awards. He's
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: trying to very much position himself back doing royal good things.
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  Speaker 2: The second note was very rare. And I think that
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  Speaker 2: put Charles Spencer in a little bit of a pickle, really,
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  Speaker 2: because normally the palace doesn't respond. Their mantra has been
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: very long time just to not respond to any of
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: these claims and not to give them any airtime. But
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: given that this book was being serialized by a very
• 15:13
  Speaker 2: popular newspaper and that the publication was going around the world,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: They wanted to draw a line in the sand about
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: what they felt were complete inaccuracies and that the story
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: was not correct. And so, you know, they put out
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: a very terse response, didn't they, you know, about fraternal
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: judgment and being clouded by grief that people were can
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: think that's a legitimate response. And so that does say
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: very clearly that the king does not believe this book,
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: and it's a bit of a load of tosh really,
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: but in such far more diplomatic language than that.
• 15:52
  Speaker 1: It reminded me of Recollections May Vary.
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  Speaker 2: It did. Well, it turned out that Princess Catherine came
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: up with that quote, Recollections May Vary. So I wonder
• 16:02
  Speaker 2: whether she was consulted on the language specifically that was
• 16:05
  Speaker 2: used in this response as well. So who knows? But
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  Speaker 2: I think Charles Spencer, he had a little bit of
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: a luxury as an author too, knowing that the palace
• 16:14
  Speaker 2: would not respond. He knows that the king will not
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: sue him for defamation because the king would be suing
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: him in his own court. And Charles would never do that.
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: So he's probably had a little bit of license to
• 16:27
  Speaker 2: be a little bit more extravagant in his language and
• 16:30
  Speaker 2: in his recollections and interpretations of what went on than
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: what any other author would have had. And any other
• 16:37
  Speaker 2: author would have not been allowed to get away with
• 16:40
  Speaker 2: this book.
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  Speaker 4: I don't think.
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  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne, thank you very much.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: Jacqueline Magne is The Australian's Europe correspondent. For all the
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: latest from Europe and around the world, visit theaustralian.com.au.