King Charles is all smiles as he carries on royal duties despite Earl Spencer’s bitter attacks in Diana book

KING Charles was seen smiling as he carried out his royal duties today despite Earl Spencer’s bombshell allegations in his book. The monarch beamed as he presented the King´s Medal for Music to Sir James MacMillan at Dumfries House in Ayrshire, Scotland. King Charles III presents the King´s Medal for Music to Sir James MacMillan at Dumfries House Credit: PA The monarch carried on with his duties despite the turmoil caused by the Earl of Spencer’s new book Credit: PA It comes after incendiary allegations about comments made days after Diana’s death saw Earl Spencer locked in a sensational war of words with Buckingham Palace. Charles, 77, has since been accused of behaving like an “elated lottery winner” when delivering news of Diana’s death to her brother. Sign up for the Royals newsletter Thank you! The bombshell allegations emerged as another excerpt from the Earl’s tell-all book, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, were released yesterday. The Earl, who said the phone was ringing constantly at the time after Diana’s death, claimed in his book: “Unlike my other callers, who were stunned, barely able to articulate their condolences and offers of help, he sounded giddily elated – like a lottery winner, I remember thinking at the time.” Charles cut a professional figure on his royal duties today Credit: PA King Charles was ‘giddily elated like a lottery winner’ when he called about Diana’s death, Earl Spencer has sensationally alleged Credit: PA:Press Association King Charles was also alleged to have sounded “strangely matter-of-fact, given the enormity of the disaster,” the Earl alleged. The excerpt continued: “Looking back now, I suspect the prince’s first reaction must have been to think more of how this event might free him to marry the woman he loved, rather than appreciating the loss of one he did not. Bombshell claims earlier this week had prompted an urgent response from the Palace. The alleged comments were made during an explosive row over whether William and Harry, then 15 and 12, should walk behind Diana’s coffin. Most read in Royals Di’s brother says they clashed over whether the young princes should follow the procession during the funeral in September 1997. The Earl claims he was told by a senior Palace aide that the princes would walk behind her coffin, to which he replied: “That’s not going to happen”. He says Charles phoned minutes later, before allegedly questioning the Spencer family’s sense of duty. The then-Prince of Wales is said to have referenced his own role at his great-uncle Lord Mountbatten’s funeral in 1979. The exchange is reported to have taken place just days after her death Credit: Getty – Contributor The shocking claims related to the late Princess Diana Credit: Getty And the Earl’s suggestion that Diana would not have wanted her sons to endure such a public ordeal was met with fury by Charles, he claimed. The book claims Charles “went nuts” when the Earl pointed out he had been 30 at that funeral. He writes: “Prince Charles continued his stream of anger without me interrupting. “Then he stopped. I assumed the pause signalled an effort to bring himself under control. The book will be officially released next week Credit: Getty King Charles also turned out yesterday and gave a speech despite allegations Credit: Getty “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!’” On Tuesday night, a spokesperson for Buckingham Palace said: “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 judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.” Earl Spencer says he was stunned and took a few seconds before replying flatly: “I can’t believe you just said that” and hanging up. His description of the shocking outburst threatens to reopen the wounds of the “War of the Waleses” and Prince Charles’s bitter split and eventual divorce from Diana. She was 36 when she died in a Paris car crash with her partner Dodi Fayed and chauffeur Henri Paul. Earl Spencer delivered a raw and defiant eulogy at Diana’s funeral at Westminster Abbey Credit: PA:Press Association Earl Spencer, left, is also said to have been opposed to Prince William and Prince Harry taking part in the funeral procession Credit: PA Swan Song, the Earl’s tell-all memoir about her life and death is being released 30 years after he delivered a defiant eulogy at her funeral. The book is described as a “historic” and “extraordinarily moving” account of his older sister. It is expected to cover her childhood, her unhappy 15-year marriage to Charles, and the torturous days after the August 1997 crash. The Earl, 62, said he wants to show his sister as a “one-off, dynamic character, full of love, charisma and self-doubt, who gave life a hell of a go, and left the world a far better place, despite exiting the stage while so young”. The memoir will be published in the UK next Tuesday and translated into 12 languages.