By GB News (Politics) | Created at 2026-10-07 08:52:08 | Updated at 2026-10-07 09:47:00
1 hour ago
Earl Charles Spencer's team has sent a letter to The Spectator, asking it to remove a podcast featuring its editor, Michael Gove, and assistant editor, Madeline Grant, GB News understands.
It is also thought that no legal action is being considered at this stage.
A spokeswoman for Earl Spencer told the People's Channel: "The Spectator's podcast claimed that in the summer of 1997 Diana asked her brother if she and her sons could stay with him to escape the press, and that he said no because the paparazzi would bother his family at Althorp.
"That is untrue. She never asked to stay that summer.
"She would not have done, as Althorp was open to the public throughout the summer months, but had she asked, he would have done everything possible to make it happen.
"Earl Spencer never turned his sister away. After her marriage broke down, and in line with police advice about her safety, he offered her a choice of a dozen homes on the Althorp estate, as well as Wormleighton Manor, the family's ancestral home.
"The Times published a correction to exactly this effect in 2021. Earl Spencer has asked The Spectator to correct the record.
"People are entitled to whatever opinion they like of his book. They are not entitled to invent how he treated his sister."
Earl Charles Spencer's team has sent a letter to The Spectator, asking it to remove a podcast featuring its editor, Michael Gove, and assistant editor, Madeline Grant, GB News understands
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GB News has approached The Spectator for comment.
The dispute centres on an episode of The Spectator's Quite right! podcast, published on September 22, which was devoted in part to Earl Spencer's memoir, Swan Song.
The episode saw Mr Gove and Ms Grant discuss the book's claims and Buckingham Palace's response.
The Spectator, which was established in 1828, describes itself as an independent publication whose writers have no party line and whose opinions range from left to right.
It is thought that no legal action is being considered by Earl Spencer at this stage
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It is also a member of IPSO and says it upholds strict standards of accuracy.
The publication is one of Britain's longest-established magazines and has continued to publish weekly since its launch in the 19th century.
Earl Spencer has sat down for numerous interviews since publishing Swan Song.
In a conversation with the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Earl Spencer reasserted his allegation that the then-Prince Charles made an unkind comment during a heated phone call after Princess Diana's death, when he argued the young Princes William and Harry should not walk behind the coffin.
Earl Spencer claimed he was so stunned that he said: "I cannot believe you just said that," and hung up.
Buckingham Palace issued a statement after the book's release, suggesting that "the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory".
Earl Spencer dismissed this and told Ms Kuenssberg: "I'm telling the truth," noting he was hyper-alert at the time and told close family immediately after it happened.
