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Ishani Sarkar

Buckingham Palace has forcefully denied a claim by the brother of the late Princess Diana that King Charles III said his ex-wife would soon be forgotten after her death.

In a new book, Charles Spencer recounts the traumatic days after Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997 at the age of 36. He alleges that he argued with his sister’s former husband over palace plans for Prince William and Prince Harry, then aged 15 and 12, to walk behind her coffin during the funeral procession.
Spencer says he told the then-Prince Charles that Diana would not have wanted her boys to undergo the ordeal. He claims the prince told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” Spencer also accuses Charles of having “contempt” for his ex-wife and of sounding “elated” after her death.
The Daily Mail tabloid newspaper is publishing extracts from Spencer’s book, titled Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is due to be published next week.
Buckingham Palace responded late Wednesday with an extremely strong statement by the measured standards of the royal household.

“While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is 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,” it said.
While Spencer’s book has once again thrust Princess Diana’s death and troubled married life in the palace back into the spotlight, the earl who tied the knot with his fourth wife earlier this year has had a complicated marital life of his own.
In 2025, Spencer was accused of ending his 13-year marriage to Karen Spencer by text and then resorting to “bullying” her with the help of his then-mistress, Dr Cat Jarman, now fourth wife, according to People magazine.
It all started with the alleged affair – Karen suspects their trysts began in 2021. In the course of investigating her husband’s relationship with Jarman, Karen found out about the other woman’s multiple sclerosis diagnosis – information she shared with her inner circle. Jarman, who had been keeping her condition under wraps to avoid prejudice, sued Karen for disclosing private information without consent. The countess hit back in her filing, claiming her actions were “entirely justified and legitimate”, given she had just found out about Spencer’s infidelity.

Spencer and Karen – who share a 14-year-old daughter, Charlotte Diana – announced their divorce in June 2024, with the earl hiring King Charles’ former divorce lawyer, Fiona Shackleton, to represent him. He made his romance with Jarman public in October 2024, but denied their affair in an interview with the Daily Mail.
So just who is Karen Spencer, the ex-wife of Charles Spencer? Here’s what to know.
What is Karen Spencer’s background?

Karen Spencer was born in June 1972 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Growing up, she moved house 22 times and attended 10 different schools because her father worked as a national parks administrator, per Forbes. She grew up with two younger siblings and went to college in Toronto, but dropped out to launch a modelling career.
She’s been married before

Karen Spencer was previously married to renowned Hollywood producer Mark Gordon, who helped produce Saving Private Ryan (1998) and the popular television series Grey’s Anatomy. The pair met while she worked as a receptionist at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto. The couple had two daughters and divorced in 2003.
She’s a philanthropist

A year after separating from Gordon, reported Forbes, Spencer put part of her divorce settlement money into founding Whole Child International, an NGO dedicated to supporting the emotional needs of vulnerable children in developing countries. “I didn’t finish college, I’d never been to a third-world orphanage, and I didn’t speak Spanish. Everybody thought I’d lost my marbles,” she said. Today, she’s the board chair of her charity after serving for 20 years as its CEO.
The countess’ philanthropy earned her an Ashoka Fellowship, a University of Northampton Honorary Fellowship and a Pikler/Lóczy USA Founders Award. She also made People’s list of 25 Women Changing the World in 2017 and co-founded Catalyst 2030 – a movement of social entrepreneurs collaborating to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals set out by the United Nations. She is also a board member of the Centre for Global Development.
With additional reporting by AP


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Buckingham Palace has denied claims surrounding King Charles in Spencer’s new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – but who is the earl’s ex-wife?


Who is Karen Spencer? Meet Charles Spencer’s ex-wife as he releases new Princess Diana memoir

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Buckingham Palace has denied claims surrounding King Charles in Spencer’s new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – but who is the earl’s ex-wife?

Buckingham Palace has denied claims surrounding King Charles in Spencer’s new book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister – but who is the earl’s ex-wife?