Earl Spencer describes King Charles as acting like a “petulant” child in the new book about his late sister Diana, Princess of Wales, which has been released today.
The author has been engaged in a PR battle with Buckingham Palace following claims that Charles sounded “giddily elated” after Diana’s death and allegedly said: “We’ll forget her soon enough.”
A Buckingham Palace spokesperson said last Wednesday that grief can “cloud reason” and “colour memory”. But Earl Spencer has defended his book’s claims and criticised the royals’ statement as “below the belt”.
The 90s video games that could fetch you up to £16,000
Some old video games could fetch staggering sums of money, new research by UK Debt Expert has found. It comes as physical copies are set to become ever rarer, with Sony to halt disc production for PlayStation games in 2028.
The top 3 most expensive
- 1 sealed 1st print Sandshrew US version 1998 WATA 9.4 was sold for £16,086.70 on eBay.
- 2, Nintendo Game Boy Original sealed was sold for £5,085.70 on eBay.
- 3Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, Nintendo 64, graded 9.0A, sealed was sold for £4,586.70 on eBay.
Other games on the list
- Sega Genesis, sealed sold for £4,500.
- Nintendo Gameboy Advance, graded 9.0A+, sealed sold for £3,999.95.
- Nintendo 64, graded 9.2A++, sealed was sold for £3,000.
- , PlayStation 1, graded 8.0 CIB Excellent sold for £3,000.
- Sega Genisis, graded 9.6A+, sealed sold for £2,045.68.
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The expert view
As gaming continues to move towards digital, it’s worth taking a second look at old games and consoles as well as collectibles […] It’s worth getting these valuable items professionally assessed or graded […] to help understand if you’re holding onto something of value.
uk debt expert spokesperson
Why Piers Morgan has vowed to sue over Diana book
Piers Morgan has threatened to sue Earl Spencer after claiming that there are “fabricated inaccuracies” in his controversial new book.
The claims made by Spencer
In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Spencer says he was “flabbergasted” that newspaper editors had been invited to Princess Diana’s funeral, adding that they could not attend because “they killed her” in his view.
- Earl Spencer says he personally called tabloid editors to tell them that they were uninvited from the funeral.
What else did he say?
Earl Spencer said of the newspaper editors he rang, “the only one who sounded surly, as opposed to merely confused or embarrassed, was Piers Morgan of , who snarled with annoyance before he hung up”.
He then claimed he assumed Morgan must be feeling “guilt” over publishing photographs of Diana wearing a leotard in a gym four years before.
Morgan’s response
- Morgan described the claims as “all bulls**t,” adding that the pictures of Diana were published in November 1993, but he started working at in 1995.
- He said Earl Spencer would hear “from my lawyers” and asked him to remove “the complete lie” from his book.
- He also speculated whether anything else in his book should be believed, as he got “such basic facts” so “incredibly defamatorially wrong.”
Earl Spencer apologises for ‘error’
A spokesperson for Earl Spencer said: “Earl Spencer’s account of his conversation with Piers Morgan is accurate…Mr Morgan was surly and annoyed when Earl Spencer called personally to tell him that he was not welcome at his sister’s funeral.”
“Mr Morgan has pointed out that he did not join the until October 1995,” the statement adds. “He wishes to clarify that his assumption was incorrect. Earl Spencer apologises to Mr Morgan for this error.”
Support for Reform falls to lowest level since 2024 election
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Tied with the Tories
YouGov’s weekly voting intention tracker shows Reform tied with the Conservatives on 21 per cent – the first time this has happened since March 2025.
Meanwhile, Labour continue to sustain a post-Starmer bounce, two points above their rivals on 23 per cent.
What about other parties?
The Green Party sits at 14 per cent, with Restore Britain at 4 per cent, the SNP at 3 per cent and Plaid Cymru at 1 per cent. Despite the poll being carried out during the Liberal Democrat’s annual conference, their support fell by one percentage point to 12 per cent.
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Pre-released extracts, serialised in , focused on claims about Charles’ reaction to Diana’s death, the alleged “lack of obvious care” for Prince Harry after the funeral, and the claim that Diana tried to call off her engagement to Charles.
Now that the book is available, The i Paper took a closer look at some of the other most eye-catching claims.
Spencer describes Charles acting like a ‘petulant’ child
Earl Spencer described Charles as acting like a “petulant” child in the book.
Charles is said to have told the author that he was “lucky” to be inheriting the Althorp estate while still in his twenties.
According to Earl Spencer, Charles told him: “You’re just so lucky – you know, inheriting when you’re so young. I mean, I’m 43 … and I employ fifty people … but my parents insist on treating me like – like a child!”
Late Queen alleged to have said Charles was ‘resentful’
Queen Elizabeth II is alleged to have complained that her son Charles was “resentful”, according to Earl Spencer’s book.
The author claims, via a courtier, that the late Queen said: “He always resents things. He even resented it when I taught him the alphabet.”
Earl Spencer also includes a claim about Elizabeth’s response to the news that Diana was involved in an accident. “When the Queen had heard the first news of Diana’s being in a traffic accident, she had asked tetchily, ‘What is she up to now?’” he wrote. “This, before the seriousness of it all became clear.”
Diana suspected Charles had ‘tryst’ with Camilla on train
Diana suspected that Charles may have had a “tryst” with Queen Camilla, according to the book. The suspicion followed a press report in 1980 which claimed Charles was seen with a blonde woman on the royal train.
“The thrust of the exclusive was that Charles had, disgracefully, used the publicly funded vehicle for a tryst with Diana,” wrote Earl Spencer.
Diana was “shocked” by the article, according to the author. “As it was not Diana, then who was the blonde?” he wrote.
“After her marriage took the direction it did, Diana became convinced that she must have been Camilla Parker-Bowles – particularly as the railway siding was just 19 miles from Camilla’s home.”
Law firm offered to help him sue over Diana crash
Earl Spencer also claims that a law firm offered to help him, Prince William and Harry sue over the crash that killed Diana in France.
Earl Spencer said he received a letter which said: “A legal action on behalf of the children or any other member of the family might be considered.”
He said that he did not reply to the letter.
Spencer apologies over Piers Morgan claim
Earl Spencer has apologised to broadcaster Piers Morgan for an “incorrect” assumption made about the broadcaster in the book.
Morgan had read out a section of Spencer’s book related to him on his YouTube show Piers Morgan Uncensored, before threatening to sue the author.
The passage read: “I assumed Morgan must be feeling particular guilt because, four years earlier, he and his counterpart had published photographs taken with hidden cameras by a gym owner. They were of Diana working out in a leotard.”
However, Morgan said the photos were printed by the Sunday Mirror in November 1993 – before he joined the newspaper. “I joined the in October in 1995.”
The broadcaster said: “My question though is this, if Earl Spencer can be so incredibly, defamatorially wrong about such basic facts involving me, well, why should we believe anything else he puts in this book? … Earl Spencer, you’ll be hearing, and your publishers, from my lawyers.”
A statement released by Spencer’s representatives acknowledged that Morgan had “pointed out that he did not join the Daily Mirror until October 1995”.
It added: “As an historian, accuracy is important to Earl Spencer. He therefore wishes to clarify that his assumption was incorrect. Earl Spencer apologises to Mr Morgan for this error.”
Earl Spencer has been contacted for comment on Morgan’s remarks.
The earl has also said that Harry is “completely fine” with the memoir. He told that William and Harry were in the book “as examples of two little boys who had the most exceptional mother”, adding: “I’m not in any way compromising their privacy at all.”
Earl Spencer, responding to Buckingham Palace’s pushback on his claims about what Charles said to him after Diana’s death, told the BBC: “I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.”
He has also denied being vengeful. “I don’t hold resentments,” he told CBS . “I’m not a vengeful, resentful person. I’m just an eyewitness to history.”
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment on the latest revelations and referred back to Wednesday’s initial statement. Earl Spencer was approached for further comment.