Earl Spencer Accuses King of Gaslighting Over Memoir Response
Charles Spencer has accused King Charles of gaslighting him after the monarch suggested his forthcoming memoir about Princess Diana is clouded by grief. The peer also claims the then-Prince of Wales told him he was lucky to inherit his title young on the day of their father's funeral.
Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer and brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, has publicly accused King Charles of gaslighting him, after the monarch responded to the peer's forthcoming memoir by suggesting it was clouded by grief. The allegation marks a sharp escalation in a long-running family rift that has resurfaced with the publication of a book chronicling Diana's life.
The earl's memoir contains a series of damning claims about the King, including an account of an exchange between the two men on the day of their father's funeral. According to Spencer, the then-Prince of Wales stamped his foot and told him: «You're lucky to be inheriting so young.» The anecdote is among several explosive passages that have drawn widespread attention ahead of the book's release.
The accusation of gaslighting is a direct response to the King's reported suggestion that Spencer's recollections are distorted by grief. The term, which describes psychological manipulation that causes a person to question their own perceptions, carries significant weight in a public dispute between members of one of Britain's most prominent families. Spencer's decision to use it publicly signals that he rejects any characterisation of his account as emotionally unreliable.
The dispute centres on the memoir's portrayal of the royal family's treatment of Diana, whose death in 1997 prompted an outpouring of national grief and enduring scrutiny of the monarchy. Spencer has previously spoken critically about the royal household's approach to his sister, most memorably during his eulogy at her funeral, where he pledged that her blood family would protect her sons. The new book revisits those tensions with fresh detail.
Buckingham Palace has not issued a formal public statement on the specific allegations. The King's reported response, described as a suggestion that grief had coloured Spencer's perspective, has been interpreted by the earl as an attempt to undermine the credibility of his testimony rather than engage with its substance.
The timing of the row places it firmly within a broader public conversation about how the royal family manages dissent and personal criticism. Diana's legacy remains a sensitive subject in Britain, and any claim that seeks to reframe her brother's account as unreliable is likely to attract intense media and public interest.
Spencer's memoir is expected to generate further headlines as extracts circulate. For now, the central conflict is clear: a brother who says his memories are being dismissed, and a monarch whose response has been characterised as an attempt to explain away painful claims rather than answer them.
