Prince Harry Asked Uncle Charles Spencer ‘Will I Be Embarrassed?’ Ahead of Tell-All Diana Memoir
The close family bond between Prince Harry and his maternal uncle, Earl Charles Spencer, has taken center stage following revelations about their private exchanges regarding Spencer’s explosive new memoir about Diana, Princess of Wales. Despite hosting Harry, Meghan Markle, and their children, Archie and Lilibet, at the Spencer family ancestral estate of Althorp over the summer, the Earl kept the entire book project strictly confidential during their stay.
Speaking to Gayle King on CBS Mornings, the 9th Earl Spencer explained his deliberate choice to maintain complete radio silence until right before the public rollout:
“I decided not to have anyone involved in the book, so nobody knew about it except my wife and the publishers. I didn’t tell any of the family until just before it was released publicly, because I didn’t want anyone to think, particularly with Harry, who people know I had to stay in the summer, that he was in any way involved in this.”
Addressing whether Prince William and Prince Harry formally endorsed the volume, Spencer noted that while he never sought official approval, the Duke of Sussex voiced immediate concerns over potential personal exposure:
“I haven’t asked about approval. Harry was sort of like, ‘Is there anything in there that would be embarrassing to me?’ I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ You know, I’m very specific about people’s privacy.”
The intimate retrospective has proven to be a commercial juggernaut, officially ranking as the UK’s bestselling hardback non-fiction title of 2026 after surpassing 102,668 copies sold. However, its revelations—including contentious claims detailing King Charles III’s immediate reaction following Diana’s tragic death in 1997—drew swift institutional pushback. A palace statement issued on behalf of the King suggested that “fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory.”
Unshaken by the royal critique, Spencer fired back directly on air: “They [the palace] have to sort of pretend there’s something wrong with my mind or my memory. There’s nothing wrong with either,” ensuring the public debate surrounding the memoir remains intensely active.