Prince William, Kate and King Charles carried out royal engagements today amid a war of words with Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer over his bombshell new memoir.

The public events this afternoon came hours after Buckingham Palace issued an extraordinary statement in response to the explosive book by the earl, the first extract of which can be read here on the Daily Mail. 

The book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, describes a devastating row he had with Charles in the days after Diana died.

In a riposte that sent shockwaves through royal circles today, Charles’s aides acidly suggested that grief can ‘cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory’. 

It was seen as a barbed echo of the late Queen Elizabeth II’s famous ‘recollections may vary’ retort to Prince Harry and Meghan after their Oprah Winfrey interview in 2021.

The palace statement 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 judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.’

It also emerged today that Harry was ‘aware’ of the memoir. The Daily Mail understands Harry was given advance warning about the book, but he has not read it.

Harry stayed at the earl’s Althorp home in Northamptonshire in July, when he made an emotional pilgrimage to Diana’s grave with his wife Meghan and children Archie at the estate where his mother grew up.

The Prince and Princess of Wales during a visit to the Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay today

The Princess of Wales meets representatives from the Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay today

The Princess of Wales plays shinty at Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute today

The Prince and Princess of Wales arrive for a visit to the Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay today

The Prince and Princess of Wales watch training during a visit to the Bute Shinty Club today

The Prince of Wales plays shinty at Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay on the Isle of Bute today

The Princess of Wales during a visit to Beachwatch Bute in Ettrick Bay this afternoon

William and Kate participate in a beach clean-up at Ettrick Bay in Rothesay this afternoon

Prince William meets a local woman while visiting Bute Shinty Club in Rothesay today

The Princess of Wales participates in a beach clean-up at Ettrick Bay in Rothesay today

The royal couple sat in the cab of a tractor during their visit to Ettrick Bay

The Princess of Wales took the steering wheel of the tractor as she drove along the beach

Kate waved to youngsters holding Union Jack flags during a walkabout in Port Bannatyne

The royal had time to pose for pictures during her visit to the Isle of Bute on Thursday

The Prince of Wales spoke with community members at the Anchor Tavern Pub & Hub in Port Bannatyne in Rothesay

Prince William took a sip of his refreshing lager during the afternoon visit to the pub

Afternoon tea was served for the royal couple, where they appeared engaged in conversation with local residents

The couple appeared in good spirits as they left the community-owned public house

Despite the war of words, the senior royals carried on with pre-booked engagements today with the Prince and Princess of Wales, who also hold the titles of the Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, taking a trip to their namesake town of Rothesay on the Isle of Bute as they carried out three engagements. 

William and Kate travelled to the west of Scotland to highlight members of the community who are bringing residents together, and their first stop was Bute Shinty Club to learn how the sporting centre has become a vital social hub. 

Also in Scotland, the King hosted an artificial intelligence summit at Dumfries House, while Princess Anne opened a history centre in Staffordshire and the Duchess of Edinburgh continued her visit to Zambia.

Meanwhile, Prince Harry visited Imperial College London in West London at a special event with Save The Children in support of youngsters injured in conflict. 

He participated in a discussion panel and was shown the latest prosthetics designed specifically for youngsters – including a specialised knee joint that can grow with the child.

In Earl Spencer’s book, he claims that Charles, then the Prince of Wales, subjected him to a ‘stream of anger’ after he insisted Diana would not have wanted Princes William and Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk in her funeral procession.

According to an excerpt, one of Queen Elizabeth II’s senior aides told him that William and Harry were to walk in the procession, prompting the earl to state, ‘that’s not going to happen’.

Charles called minutes later and told him that 18 years earlier he had walked in the funeral procession of his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten, it is claimed.

In the book, the earl claims: ‘Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting. Then he stopped.

‘I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death. ‘Rest assured’, he hissed, ‘we’ll forget her soon enough!’.’

The King shakes hands with Cabinet Secretary Dame Antonia Romeo at Dumfries House today

King Charles III walks with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang at Dumfries House today

Charles gives a speech during a meeting at Dumfries House for AI leaders this afternoon

The Princess Royal lays a wreath in the Cannock Chase War Cemetery in Staffordshire today

The Duchess of Edinburgh continues her visit to Zambia today. She is pictured there yesterday

Prince Harry visited Imperial College London in West London at a special event with Save The Children in support of youngsters injured in conflict 

The Duke of Sussex was shown prosthetics designed for youngsters at the Centre for Injury Studies, based at Imperial College London 

The Duke met Claire Sanford from Save The Children and took part in a panel discussion on supporting child amputees at the event

Speaking at the event, Prince Harry said: ;Children should not be exposed to conflict. They should not be losing limbs to blast. But whilst children continue to suffer, I will keep working to ensure they can live life to the full.’

Earl Spencer speaks with Prince Charles after a banquet in Cape Town on November 4, 1997

Prince Philip, Prince William, Earl Spencer, Prince Harry and Prince Charles walk outside Westminster Abbey during the funeral procession for Princess Diana on September 6, 1997

Charles and Diana on their last official trip together to South Korea in November 1992

The King’s remarkable statement disputing Earl Spencer’s claims reveals the depth of the his anger, especially because the palace ignored Harry’s book Spare, according to experts. 

ITV royal editor Chris Ship said he was ‘not expecting’ the palace to respond, but that ‘what became very clear from seeing that statement is they’re not going to take this one lying down’.

‘I know that Harry’s aware of what his uncle has written in this book. And we also know that Harry stayed with Charles Spencer when he was over in the summer and had a big family gathering,’ he said.

During the King’s AI summit today, he warned of the ‘existential dangers’ of artificial intelligence systems falling into the wrong hands, as he addressed tech leaders at a summit on the future of the technology.

Charles told an audience that included bosses from Nvidia, Anthropic, Google DeepMind and OpenAI that decisions taken today on the technology will ‘shape the world inherited by future generations’, and he called on them to ensure that as they develop the technology, ‘our humanity remains sacred’.

The event at Dumfries House in Cumnock was also attended by guests including the chief adviser to the Vatican on the ethics of AI and technology, the UK’s AI Minister, government advisors and others.

Extracted from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister by Charles Spencer, to be published by Michael Joseph on September 22, £28. © Charles Spencer 2026. To order a copy for £23.80 (offer valid to 10/10/26; UK P&P free on orders over £25) go to www.mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937. 

Read more: 

• Prince Harry reveals he was ‘aware’ of Earl Spencer’s book as King enters war of words with Diana’s brother who claims Charles told him she would be ‘forgotten’ days after her death
• RICHARD EDEN: Harry and Meghan’s return may have seemed like a fiasco. But look at what has unfolded in the short time they’ve been back… they’re quietly achieving EVERYTHING they wanted