King Charles issues fiery response to Princess Diana’s brother over claims in new book

LONDON — Buckingham Palace has issued a rare and unusually forceful denial after the brother of the late Princess Diana claimed that the then-Prince Charles said his first wife would soon be forgotten in the days after her death. In a soon-to-be published memoir, Charles Spencer recounts the emotional days in the aftermath of Diana’s 1997 death in a Paris car crash at the age of 36. One excerpt published Wednesday alleges a heated exchange with Charles, now the British king, over whether Princes William and Harry — then 15 and 12 — should walk behind their mother’s coffin in the funeral procession. Spencer says he expressed that Diana would not want them to endure such an ordeal, and claims this was met with a “stream of anger” from Charles.