Princess Diana’s brother claims Royal Family denied her final funeral request

Charles Spencer’s upcoming book has already laid out some bombshell claims as the first excerpts have been published.

The 62-year-old brother of the late Princess Diana is releasing Swan Song: Diana, My Sister on 22 September in the UK.

The memoir chronicles their childhood, as well as Diana's marriage to King Charles III, her rise to global prominence and the media scrutiny surrounding her personal life.

Ahead of its release, the first excerpts have been published in the Daily Mail, including a shock claim that the Royal Family denied Diana’s funeral wishes.

The Princess was just 36 years old when she lost her life following a car accident in Paris, France, in 1997.

She was travelling through the Place de l'Alma underpass in central Paris in the back of a Mercedes-Benz S280 with Egyptian film producer Dodi Fayed and his bodyguard, Trevor Rees-Jones, who was the sole survivor of the accident, when the vehicle lost control.

Earl Spencer's memoir makes shocking claims about his sister Princess Diana's funeral (Karwai Tang/Getty Images)

Speaking of the aftermath, the Earl wrote: “Diana remained theirs, in Buckingham Palace’s eyes, even in death. Her family, despite her divorce, were simply expected to fall into line with any royal decisions.”

He claimed that he tried to make requests on the family’s behalf as his sisters ‘knew that Diana had always wanted Mozart’s Requiem to be played for her, after her death’.

Spencer alleged: “But when I passed this on, it was rejected as a possibility: ‘No part of a requiem can be played at a Church of England funeral,’ I was told.

“I later found out that was not the case - the first of several untruths that the authorities would push my way at that time.”

The brother of Diana also claimed there was a disagreement over whether her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, who were 15 and 12 at the time, would walk behind their mother’s coffin during the procession, which ended up happening.

Spencer wrote: “Well, that’s not going to happen,’ I said, in a ­matter-of-­fact tone. It was a suggestion that struck me as utterly barbaric, and quite out of the question.”

He argued that Diana ‘would never have wanted to put them through anything so ghastly’.

The King allegedly told him: “I gather you’ve said you don’t want William and Harry to walk behind Diana’s coffin,” to which the Earl reportedly responded: “Well, of course not, sir. Diana would never have wanted that.”

He alleged there was a disagreement over whether William and Harry would walk behind her coffin (Tim Graham/Getty Images)

The King, who was Prince Charles at the time, allegedly said he did the same thing for the funeral for his uncle Lord Mountbatten, but Spencer claimed to have told him: “But you were 30, sir, and he wasn’t your mother.’”

He alleged: “He went nuts. ‘That’s the problem with your family. They’ve got no bloody sense of duty!’ he started, before descending into a general rage.”

In the same excerpt, speaking of Diana, Charles is alleged to have said that ‘we’ll forget her soon enough’.

However, Buckingham Palace have pushed back on these claims and said in a statement: “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.”

Tyla has contacted Buckingham Palace for further comment.