Royal Expert Picks Apart 'Inaccuracies' in Earl Spencer's Diana Memoir

Earl Spencer is facing fresh scrutiny over alleged "inaccuracies" in his new memoir about Diana, Princess of Wales, after a royal expert challenged several of its most striking claims and questioned whether decades-old family grievances have colored his recollections.

As OK! readers know, Charles Spencer, 62, has defended his new memoir Swan Song, his 371-page account of his sister's life and death, insisting, "I'm telling the truth."

Controversy has erupted over the book after Buckingham Palace disputed his description of King Charles III, 77, as "giddily elated" following Diana's death in 1997, while the book's publishers acknowledged a separate error concerning Piers Morgan, 61.

A royal expert who has trawled the book told us in an exclusive interview: "There is no dispute that Charles Spencer experienced unimaginable grief and was at the center of those extraordinary days in the wake of Diana's death, but being present does not make every recollection beyond challenge. Some passages present personal impressions formed during moments of enormous emotion as though they settle complicated historical questions. Other people who were there remember events differently, and documentary evidence matters when you're making serious claims about identifiable individuals. The allegation about the King's reaction is particularly painful because people who dealt with him that morning remember a father confronting the horrifying task of telling William and Harry their mother was dead. That is very different from the picture presented in the book. There are also examples where the wider context changes the impression, and which are blatant inaccuracies. Decisions surrounding Diana's funeral, for example, involved practical, ceremonial and security considerations, while stories passed down through families can acquire certainty over decades that contemporary records don't necessarily support."

"Nobody is arguing Spencer should not tell his story. But a memoir this consequential will inevitably be tested against dates, documents and the memories of other witnesses. Once one factual mistake is conceded, readers are naturally going to examine the rest more closely," they added.

Buckingham Palace responded to Spencer's account by saying: "His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory."

The memoir claims Charles sounded "giddily elated – like a lottery winner" after Diana's death.

Spencer also writes he suspected his former brother-in-law initially considered how Diana's death might free him to marry the woman he loved.

Elsewhere, Spencer claimed Morgan published photographs of Diana exercising at a gym while editing the Daily Mirror.

The photographs appeared in 1993, two years before Morgan became editor.

The publishers subsequently stated: "Earl Spencer apologies to Mr. Morgan for this error."

Spencer's account also criticizes Palace officials over Diana's funeral, including resistance to his request for Mozart's Requiem.

The supplied account says the objection came from the then Dean of Westminster, while Verdi's Requiem ultimately appeared in the service.

Another passage recounts artist Edward Seago supposedly telling Spencer's father Prince Philip took paintings without returning or paying for them.

Other published accounts cited in the critique state Seago gave Philip paintings after accompanying him on an Antarctic voyage.

Spencer additionally suggests his father, Johnny Spencer, had a romantic connection with the future Queen Elizabeth II that Lord Mountbatten ended.

Contemporary accounts cited in the original piece instead emphasize Elizabeth's attachment to Prince Philip during the wartime period.

The memoir also disputes portrayals of Diana's childhood as deeply unhappy, although Diana herself described it as "a very unhappy childhood" in Andrew Morton's Diana: Her True Story.