Charles Spencer Claims Palace Rejected Diana's Dying Wish for Mozart's Requiem at Her Funeral

Nearly three decades later, the raw details of Diana's funeral planning are finally coming to light. Spencer's account paints a stark picture of a grieving family clashing with royal protocol.

Princess Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, is shedding new light on his sister's death and the tense aftermath that followed. The beloved royal died following a car crash in Paris on August 31, 1997.

On Thursday, September 17, the Daily Mail published the first excerpt of the 9th Earl Spencer's upcoming memoir, "Swan Song: Diana, My Sister." After learning of her death, Spencer became his family's point of contact regarding Diana's funeral arrangements.

He served as a go-between for his family, the Buckingham Palace faction led by Queen Elizabeth, and Diana's ex-husband, then-Prince Charles, as they planned her funeral.

"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 wrote.

Spencer said he tried to advocate on his family's behalf. "My sisters knew that Diana had always wanted Mozart's Requiem to be played for her, after her death," he revealed.

"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," he recounted. "I later found out that was not the case — the first of several untruths that the authorities would push my way at that time."

Elsewhere in the passage, Spencer detailed his dispute with the royals over whether Diana's sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, then ages 15 and 12, would walk behind her coffin during the funeral procession.

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

Diana had named Spencer guardian of her sons, and he says he protested that she "would never have wanted to put them through anything so ghastly." But their father still held final say. The monarch would later phone Spencer directly over the disagreement.

"'I gather you've said you don't want William and Harry to walk behind Diana's coffin,'" Spencer recalls his former brother-in-law saying, to which he replied, "Well, of course not, sir. Diana would never have wanted that."

When Prince Charles noted that he'd walked behind the coffin at his uncle Lord Mountbatten's funeral, Spencer then responded, "'But you were 30, sir, and he wasn't your mother.'"

"He went nuts," Spencer wrote. "'That's the problem with your family. They've got no bloody sense of duty!' he started, before descending into a general rage. Prince Charles continued his stream of anger, without me interrupting."

"Then he stopped," he continued. "I assumed the pause signaled an effort to bring himself under control, but then he unleashed down the phone what I have always taken to be his pent-up contempt for Diana, and his horror that the world was so bowled over by her death."

"'Rest assured,' he hissed, 'we'll forget her soon enough!'" Spencer recounted now-King Charles reportedly saying. "I was so stunned that it took me a few seconds to reply. 'I can't believe you just said that,' I said flatly, before hanging up."

Following the Daily Mail's publication of the excerpt, Buckingham Palace issued a rare response.

"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 color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss," a spokesperson said.

"Swan Song: Diana, My Sister" was announced last month and is slated for publication on September 22, 2026.