Ken Wharfe says the King is “quite capable of it” but may not have “meant it,” and that “Spencer is right”
Ken WharfeFormer Metropolitan Police royal protection officer who was Diana, Princess of Wales’s personal protection officer from 1987 to late 1993, interviewed on Times Radio
Interviewed on Times Radio’s The Times at One, former royal protection officer Ken Wharfe said it was “not for me to say that it's true what the King is alleged to have said,” but that Charles is “quite capable of it” and that he could imagine him “grimacing” over the line without having “actually said it or actually meant it.” He said he does not see Spencer “making things up here to sell his book” and that “Personally, I think Spencer is right,” while adding that he “wasn't privy to the conversation.” Asked about criticism that Spencer is cashing in on his sister’s legacy, he said he does not take that line.
“Well, I mean, it's not for me to say that it's true what the King is alleged to have said. I can see why Spencer has written this book. Do I think that the King said something like this? Well, he's quite capable of it. And maybe in this line here, when discussing with Spencer about Diana's death and so forth, you know, when he was meant to be saying, well, you know, she'd be soon forgotten. I can see him grimacing over that statement. But that's not to say that he actually said it or actually meant it. But I do believe that Spencer, from the times that I've met him and known him, I don't see him actually making things up here to sell his book. Personally, I think Spencer is right.”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Earl Spencer's memoir claims about King Charles's reaction to Diana's death
In his memoir "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," serialised from September 2026, Charles Spencer makes a series of claims about how the then Prince Charles behaved towards him after Diana's death in 1997. He writes that Charles told him by phone, "Rest assured, we'll forget her soon enough," and, in later excerpts, that Charles sounded "giddily elated – like a lottery winner" during the call and that he now suspects Charles was weighing how the death might free him to marry Camilla. Buckingham Palace, in a rare on-record statement, did not directly confirm or deny the quotation, saying instead that "the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory," and declined to respond again to the later claims. The dispute is whether Spencer's account of Charles's words and demeanour is accurate.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Times Radio's 8:15 video of Ken Wharfe's interview on The Times at One with presenter Dominic O'Connell, posted to its YouTube channel on September 17, 2026. O'Connell introduces Wharfe as Princess Diana's personal protection officer from 1987 to late 1993. The video opens with a 24-second excerpt of Wharfe's remarks before the interview begins at 00:24.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Presenter Dominic O’Connell introduced Wharfe after summarising Spencer’s claim that Charles told him “rest assured we’ll forget her soon enough” and Buckingham Palace’s statement the previous evening suggesting grief could have affected Spencer’s judgment and memory. He asked whether Spencer’s account of Charles’s reaction to Diana’s death rang true.
After the quotation
Later in the interview, asked about the Palace’s response, Wharfe said he was not privy to the conversation between Spencer and the King but could not see why Spencer would lie. He said the Palace, which he said has usually made no comment on memoirs, had this time effectively said the account was untrue.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
On whether Spencer’s account of Charles’s words and demeanour after Diana’s death is accurate, Wharfe declines to say the remark was made (“not for me to say”) and allows that Charles is “quite capable of it” but may not have “actually said it or actually meant it.” Separately he says Spencer is credible, “right,” and has no reason to lie. Because he supports Spencer’s good faith while leaving the accuracy of the specific words unresolved, the statement is “Mixed or conditional”. The closest competing label is condemns, which this case uses for accounts that corroborate Spencer; it loses here because Wharfe expressly declines to confirm the words and suggests Charles may not have meant them.
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Read the full caseSpencer denies trying to discredit Charles
“At no point am I looking to discredit anyone.”Read statement
Spencer tells CBS he is “absolutely not bitter” and that his book “would be more bitter” if he were
“No, I'm absolutely not bitter. I can tell you, if I was bitter, this book would be more bitter.”Read statement
Spencer tells CBS he is “reporting that’s the fact,” not “justifying or criticizing”
“He sounded excited in a sort of upbeat way. … Yes, and obviously I'm not justifying or criticizing. I'm reporting that's the fact. … I said in the book that that might have been it, yeah, but that's obviously … I can't say what he was thinking”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Ken Wharfe says the King is “quite capable of it” but may not have “meant it,” and that “Spencer is right”". First published: 2026-09-21. Last updated: 2026-09-25. https://disputeindex.com/events/1354-interviewed-on-times-radio-s-the-times-at