Princess Diana’s brother pushed back on Tina Brown’s questions about Prince Harry’s return to the U.K.
Credit: Matt Holyoak; Karwai Tang/WireImage
NEED TO KNOW
- Charles Spencer dismissed the surprise over Prince Harry’s return to the U.K., saying it’s only natural that “this English guy” wants to live in England
- Princess Diana’s brother made the remarks during an on-stage conversation with royal biographer and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown at St. Peter’s Chelsea in New York City
- Spencer also revealed how Prince William and Prince Harry reacted to his memoir about their mother
Charles Spencer is defending Prince Harry’s decision to return to his home country.
The 9th Earl Spencer sat down with royal biographer and former Vanity Fair editor Tina Brown at St. Peter’s Chelsea in New York City on Sept. 29 for a wide-ranging conversation about his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, hosted by McNally Jackson Books.
The conversation covered everything from Spencer’s memories of his sister, Princess Diana, and his strained relationship with King Charles to his nephews, Prince William and Prince Harry — including Harry’s recent return to the U.K. with Meghan Markle and their children.
One of the evening’s liveliest exchanges came when Brown, an outspoken critic of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, pressed Spencer about Harry’s decision to move his family back to Britain.
The conversation began when Brown asked Spencer whether he felt he had fulfilled the pledge he made in his eulogy for Diana to help look out for William and Harry.
Credit: McNally Jackson Books/Vimeo
Spencer said that today, he sees himself as “just an elderly uncle who’s there if needed.”
“I mean, it’s a matter of public record, and I wouldn’t have shared this, but, you know, it’s a matter of public record that Harry and his family came to stay with Cat and me this summer,” he said, referring to his wife, Cat Spencer. “If I’m of any use for things like that, that’s fine.”
Brown then asked whether he had encouraged Harry to move back to Britain.
“Didn’t discuss it, actually,” Spencer replied.
“Well, I mean, these families, they don’t talk to one another, do they?” Brown said, drawing laughs from the audience.
“Well, they do,” Spencer countered.
“Well, it’s amazing,” Brown continued. “I mean, you don’t tell them that you’re writing the book, and you didn’t discuss the most incredible decision that is going to happen, and everybody’s astounded by everybody else’s behavior.”
“But is it astounding that an Englishman wants to move back to England?” Spencer replied. “I don’t think so.”
Brown disagreed, pointing to Harry’s turbulent history with the British press and his decision to leave the U.K. six years earlier.
“Seems very normal to me,” Spencer said.
Brown suggested that Spencer’s own experiences with the press might have made him a useful “touchstone” for his nephew as he contemplated the move.
“Yeah, I never intrude,” Spencer replied. “I’m just a guy who’s 20 years older.”
“There are things that he might talk about where I am totally happy to help, but I… I wouldn’t intrude on any of…” he continued. “Yeah, it’s up to somebody to share that stuff with me if they want to. I’m not sure how useful I’d have been about a property search or something.”
Spencer then offered his own straightforward explanation for Harry’s homecoming.
“I think what’s interesting is, you forget, these are just regular people at heart, and this English guy’s lived in California, he wants to live in England,” he said. “Seems normal.”
“Okay, well, it’s one way of reading it,” Brown replied.
Spencer also opened up about his decision not to tell his family — including William and Harry — that he was writing Swan Song until just before the book was publicly announced.
“I took a conscious decision that this was very much… my story, my responsibility,” Spencer said. “I thought if I told my family, my sisters, my nephews, anyone else, they would all have a view, as to content, and what I must include, and what I mustn’t.”
Spencer said he told his relatives “on the day of the announcement before it went out, so they got almost no warning.”
Asked specifically how William and Harry reacted, Spencer declined to divulge their private conversations.
“In respect of their privacy, I won’t sort of say what was said, but it was okay, you know?” he said. “I mean, I think they’re probably used to me to sort of doing my own thing, and I made it absolutely clear to them, I haven’t compromised either of your privacy at all.”
He added that his nephews appear in the book only “as the very lucky recipients of their mother’s love, and as particularly stalwart, incredibly brave boys on the day of the funeral.”
Earlier in the conversation, Spencer also made a distinction between the brothers when Brown asked whether they had ever spoken to him about his famous eulogy.
“Well, I know Harry’s been very supportive of it, and, I don’t remember any comments from William,” he said.
Spencer was also asked whether he plans to participate in any film projects marking the 30th anniversary of Diana’s death in 2027.
He said he had been approached about projects but had not committed to them, adding that he might consider one “that’s going to get Diana’s message across.”
Brown then raised Harry’s own possible plans.
“Well, of course, Harry is said to be making a tribute,” she said.
“Yeah, he may well be, but I…I don’t know where I can contribute to that sort of thing,” Spencer replied.
Spencer said he had been invited to participate in projects involving Andrew Morton and Alastair Campbell but was not taking part in those.
Brown ended the conversation with a question that brought Spencer back to the sister at the heart of his memoir.
“What do you think Diana would have been if she hadn’t married… the heir to the throne?” Brown asked.
“Happy,” Spencer replied.
Spencer recently sat down with PEOPLE at Althorp for an exclusive cover story about Swan Song, opening up about his memories of Diana and the bond they shared.
Asked which moment with his sister he would most like to relive, Spencer pointed to their shared sense of humor.
“All of the best times were us laughing,” he told PEOPLE. “I would love to laugh with her again. That would be good.”
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