Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has backed King Charles in his dispute with Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer.
Spencer’s upcoming memoir includes claims about Charles’s behaviour after Diana died in 1997. The allegations have divided public opinion and led Buckingham Palace to issue a rare statement.
Speaking to the BBC, Badenoch said: “I have a side and it’s always on the side of His Majesty.”
She also expressed support for the Palace’s response.
In his book, Spencer claims Charles told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
Spencer says the remark came during an argument about whether Prince William and Prince Harry should walk behind their mother’s coffin. He opposed the boys taking part in the funeral procession.
Diana was 36 when she died in a car crash in Paris in 1997. Her partner, Dodi al-Fayed, also died in the crash.
In response to Spencer’s account, a Palace spokesperson said the King recognised that losing a sibling could affect someone’s judgment and memory, even years later.
The statement noted that the Palace does not usually comment on books, but suggested that grief could shape how Spencer remembered the events.
