Spencer's Claims Are 'Nonsense' — King Charles Still Holds Onto Diana's Marriage Artifacts, Expert Says
EXCLUSIVE: Ex-Palace spokesman Dickie Arbiter calls the claim Charles ignored Diana's memory 'nonsense', saying the pair stayed cordial after their divorce.
EARL Spencer’s new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, has thrust the fractured marriage of Diana and then-Prince Charles back into the spotlight.
The allegations were serious enough that Buckingham Palace broke its long-standing 'never complain, never explain' rule to issue a strong public rebuttal. In an exclusive interview, the Royal Observer's Associate Editor Joshua Rom sat down with Dickie Arbiter, former Buckingham Palace Press Spokesperson, who revealed the truth about King Charles' real feelings toward his ex-wife — and didn't hold back in calling Spencer's book 'nonsense.' Watch the video here!
Arbiter dismissed Spencer's claims outright, insisting that Charles and Diana actually shared a mature, cordial relationship after their divorce — one strong enough that both remained deeply devoted parents to Prince William and Prince Harry. "I was working close to him as his spokesman for five years. And it's not something he would ever say, let alone think. When I think of the relationship that he had with Diana after the divorce, it was a lot better than it had ever been before they did get divorced. He used to drop into Kensington Palace for tea on his way back to Highgrove. He would phone her. He still has artefacts at Highgrove even today of their marriage photographs. So the relationship was pretty good," he explained.
Arbiter served as press spokesman for Queen Elizabeth II from 1988 until 2000 and has known the British royal family closely for decades.
Returning to the allegation that Charles disregarded Diana's memory, Arbiter pointed out that Spencer is employing a strategic media strategy to sell his book. "It's selling the book at somebody else's expense," he highlighted. "That statement, or the story that appeared in the Daily Mail about Charles's reaction to the death of Diana, is absolute 100% nonsense," the royal commentator asserted.
This can be corroborated by a well-known incident between the King and Diana after their divorce. According to Diana's personal chef, Darren McGrady, the royal couple still held affection for each other, as illustrated by an incident in which Charles, needing to use the bathroom, asked Diana to let him in at Kensington Palace after flying from Highgrove. After he left, the then Princess of Wales shouted after him, "Same time next week, Charles!" with a naughty wink, at which point the monarch turned red.
"The police put on their helmets quickly, and Charles went bright red. You could see they still had affection for each other," McGrady added. Meanwhile, people who knew the couple vouched for them. Debbie Frank, Diana's friend and astrologer, noted that Diana loved Charles "until her dying day," despite having distanced herself from him.
Ingrid Seward, editor-in-chief of Majesty magazine, mentioned that Diana believed she and Charles still loved each other in "a different way."
