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The Prince and Princess of Wales made the correct choice by remaining silent amid the controversy surrounding Princess Diana’s brother and his explosive new memoir, according to a royal expert.
The Royal Family has endured a challenging few weeks following the book’s publication, with Earl Spencer making a series of striking allegations involving the King and the wider royal institution.
Among the most controversial claims in the memoir is Spencer’s allegation that the then-Prince Charles said ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’ following Diana’s tragic death.
Since the memoir was published, Charles Spencer has been promoting the book across both the UK and the US. He has also publicly challenged the Palace’s unusual response after Buckingham Palace issued a statement following the release of a particularly controversial extract from the book.
Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of responding publicly to the controversy, with a spokesperson saying: “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.”
Nearly two weeks after the memoir’s publication, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond believes the most intense period of reaction has now passed. She also defended the King’s handling of the allegations and suggested the Palace was justified in issuing its strongly worded response.
Speaking to the Mirror, Jennie said: “I think the Earl Spencer drama has peaked and the Royal Family have ridden out the storm. Opinion seems to be divided about whether or not Buckingham Palace was wise to issue its hard-hitting statement at the start of the row.
“I think it was the right tactic, and became especially pertinent after it became clear that there was at least one inaccuracy in Spencer‘s book.”
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While King Charles chose to respond publicly to the allegations contained in Earl Spencer’s memoir, the Prince and Princess of Wales have taken a very different approach. William and Kate have remained silent on the claims, a strategy Jennie Bond believes has served them well.
“Equally, I think William and Catherine made the right decision to ignore the noise – and the allegations – and simply get on with their work,” Jennie added.
She compared their response to the approach they adopted following the publication of Prince Harry’s memoir, when the couple continued with their royal engagements rather than becoming publicly involved in the controversy.
“As with Harry’s book, they rose above the row, refused to acknowledge any questions and just carried on charming the crowds who came to see them. It’s very effective and I don’t see them getting sucked into the drama now.”
Despite their public silence, the controversy is reportedly painful for William personally. The Mirror’s royal editor Russell Myers has claimed the Prince is ‘incredibly saddened’ by the allegations contained in his uncle’s book and feels ‘let down’ by Earl Spencer.
Speaking on the Mirror’s YouTube programme Pod Save The King, Russell Myers suggested that the controversy surrounding Earl Spencer’s memoir has left William dealing with a profound sense of disappointment.
Myers said: “There is an awful lot of sadness in William’s mind. I mean, look at how many people he’d been let down by. His brother, his sister-in-law, now his uncle.”
He also highlighted Earl Spencer’s account of informing both William and Harry about the book before its publication. According to Myers, only Harry responded, with his reaction focusing on whether the memoir contained anything that could affect him personally.
“And I thought it was quite telling that Earl Spencer said that he told both William and Harry [about the book] and Harry was the only one to respond quite selfishly saying ‘Well is there anything about me that I should be worried about?’
“Now I know that William has not responded to [Earl Spencer] and he is incredibly saddened by this. There’s lots of talk about generational anger and fury.”
