THE late Queen offered to restore Diana’s HRH title on the day of her funeral, Earl Spencer has claimed in his bombshell memoir.
Diana controversially lost her royal title when her and Charles, 77, divorced in 1996.
Earl Spencer said he rejected the offer, saying it was a ‘consolation prize’ Credit: EPA
The Earl’s memoir details Charles and Diana’s unhappy marriage Credit: Tim Graham – Getty
But according to Diana’s brother’s explosive book, the Queen’s private secretary Robert Fellowes extended the offer to restore the title.
Fellowes told Earl Spencer of the offer on a trip by royal train to Diana’s private burial at Althorp, Northamptonshire, the Daily Mail reports.
Sign up for the Royals newsletter
Thank you!
In his memoir, Earl Spencer said Diana had been “dreadfully hurt” by the controversial decision to remove her royal title.
He added that this was why he declined the late Queen’s “well-meaning” gesture, which he described as a “consolation prize.”
ROYAL WARNING
Harry ‘given advance warning of book’ amid row between King & Diana’s brother
WHY NOW?
Palace fury as insiders blast Earl Spencer’s ‘motive’ for bombshell memoir
The late Queen reportedly offered to restore Diana’s title Credit: AP:Associated Press
Spencer claimed Charles’ first reaction ‘must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved’ Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd
Earl Spencer claims he received the offer from Mr Fellowes, who died in 2024, just hours after he delivered his defiant eulogy at Diana’s funeral.
He wrote: “I felt that I knew in my bones how she would view this posthumous award.
“That’s very kind of the Queen, of course. But what’s the point, Robert? Now? I mean – Diana’s dead.”
Diana’s brother made several claims in his memoir – including that Charles was “giddily elated like a lottery winner” when the news broke of her death in a Paris car crash in 1997.
Princess Di’s brother, 62, also writes that Charles’s first reaction “must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved (Camilla)”.
In his memoir, Earl Spencer also claims that Diana tried to call off her engagement to the King, suffered from ADHD and considered suicide several times.
The extensive claims in the book also included Charles telling Earl Spencer Diana would be “quickly forgotten.”
The alleged comments were made during an explosive row over whether William and Harry, then 15 and 12, should walk behind Diana’s coffin.
Diana’s brother said they clashed over whether the young princes should follow the procession during the funeral in September 1997.
The Earl alleged a row broke out over the young Prince’s roles in Diana’s funeral Credit: AFP
The King and the Earl engaged in a war of words over the bombshell book Credit: PA
The Earl claims he was told by a senior Palace aide that the princes would walk behind her coffin, to which he replied: “That’s not going to happen”.
He says Charles phoned minutes later, before allegedly questioning the Spencer family’s sense of duty.
The then-Prince of Wales is said to have referenced his own role at his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten’s funeral in 1979.
And the Earl’s suggestion that Diana would not have wanted her sons to endure such a public ordeal was met with fury by Charles, he claimed.
The book claims Charles “went nuts” when the Earl pointed out he had been 30 at that funeral.
Following the claims made in the memoir being made public, a war of words between the Earl and the King ensued.
Last night the palace issued a put-down of the claims against the King made in the memoir.
A Royal spokesman said: “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 judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
It echoes the late Queen’s remarks that “recollections may vary” in the wake of Harry and Meghan’s bombshell Oprah interview.
In the wake of the Earl Spencer’s bombshell claims royal aides suggested grief could “cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory.”
Prince Harry is aware of his uncle’s memoir but has not read it and has not been briefed on it despite staying with Earl Spencer in Althorp earlier this year, according to the Daily Mail
Swan Song, the Earl’s tell-all memoir about Diana’s life and death is being released 30 years after he delivered a defiant eulogy at her funeral.
The memoir will be published in the UK next Tuesday and translated into 12 languages.
Extracts from the memoir, published in the UK by Penguin Michael Joseph, are being serialised in the Mail.
