The Queen delivered a speech at her book festival after Earl Spencer doubled down on claims in his upcoming memoir.
Camilla spoke at the Queen’s Reading Room Festival (Image: Getty)
Queen Camilla has issued a plea as the row surrounding Earl Spencer’s memoir about his sister, Princess Diana, rages on. He has made several bombshell allegations regarding King Charles III’s purported conduct in the aftermath of her death in 1997.
Camilla spoke at her book festival in Chatsworth House, Derbyshire, on Saturday (September 19) and called for people to come “together”. She said at the Queen’s Reading Room Festival that she was “recently reminded of a rather beautiful proverb, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together'”. Her speech came after Earl Spencer doubled down on allegations in his highly anticipated book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which is set for release on Tuesday (September 22).
As reported by The Telegraph, excerpts from the book have been released by The Daily Mail and Earl Spencer suggested Charles is embarrassed about his claims.
He claimed in an interview that the King went “ballistic” during a phone argument following Diana’s death after he opposed having young Princes William and Harry walk behind the funeral cortege. The then-Prince of Wales allegedly ended the rant by saying: “We’ll forget her soon enough”.
The Earl also wrote that Charles sounded “giddily elated” after hearing the news that Diana had died in a car crash in Paris. The book alleges that Charles told Diana that he was “not actually in love with her” just days before their wedding in 1981.
The Queen has called for togetherness (Image: Getty)
Buckingham Palace has issued a rare response to the claims. It stated that the King is mindful that “fraternal grief can cloud reason” and “affect judgement”.
The statement read: “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.”
Camilla delivered a speech at the festival on Saturday, reaffirming her passion for literature.
Earl Spencer has made damning claims in his upcoming memoir (Image: Getty)
She said: “I created my Reading Room simply because, like all of us here, I love books and their life-enhancing power and I want to share that love with others.
“In those early days, I had no idea if anyone would be interested, but six years on, we are a global community of millions from over 180 countries, swapping recommendations, undertaking research and donating thousands of books to women’s refuges and homeless shelters.”
She also thanked guests for “the incredible support offered to us by a huge number of book lovers: writers, actors, publishers and, above all, readers”.