Always on his majesty’s side, Badenoch backs King Charles in memoir row

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has said she is “always on the side of His Majesty” as she weighed in on the dispute between King Charles and Earl Spencer over claims in Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about Princess Diana.

Badenoch made the comment in an interview with the BBC, according to GB News on Saturday.

Spencer’s Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is being serialised by the Daily Mail ahead of its publication, contains several claims about Charles and his relationship with Diana.

Among the claims, Spencer alleges that Charles told him days after Diana’s death in 1997: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”

He also claimed the King was “giddily elated” after hearing of Diana’s death.

Badenoch, when asked about the row, said: “I have a side and it’s always on the side of His Majesty.”

The Conservative leader also referred to a statement issued by Buckingham Palace in response to the allegations.

“I would reiterate exactly what it was that the King himself had said or certainly Buckingham Palace said on his behalf,” she said.

“Buckingham Palace said it did not comment on books “as a matter of principle”, but added that the King was 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.”

Spencer has defended the claims, insisting that he was “telling the truth” about what he said Charles told him.

Asked about the Palace’s response, Spencer said: “They’ve sort of smudged that one, haven’t they? They’ve said that recollections may vary.”

He also rejected suggestions that the King’s alleged comments had been misrepresented.

“I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said,” Spencer said.

Former royal correspondent Charles Rae, speaking to GB News, said he was “shocked and astonished” by Spencer’s allegations.

The then-Prince of Wales was grief-stricken and devastated [following Diana’s death], and I would be utterly, utterly shocked and surprised if he said anything at all like the allegations that he has made, about the mother of his two sons,” Rae said.