Spencer says Charles sounded "giddily elated – like a lottery winner" after Diana's death

In further excerpts from his memoir "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister," published by the Daily Mail on September 17, Charles Spencer describes the telephone call he says he received from the then Prince Charles after Diana's death in 1997. He writes that, unlike other callers, Charles sounded giddily elated, like a lottery winner, and that the call was strangely matter-of-fact given the enormity of what had happened. He says Charles told him he had informed William and Harry of their mother's death that morning in their bedrooms at Balmoral. Spencer adds that, looking back, he suspects Charles's first reaction was to consider how the death might free him to marry Camilla rather than to register the loss. The account is Spencer's recollection and the inference about Charles's state of mind is expressly his own supposition; neither is established here.

“Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time. … It all sounded strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster. … Looking back now, I suspect the prince's first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not.”