Sitting this one out. Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer was noticeably absent from King Charles III‘s coronation on Saturday, May 6.
Earlier this year, however, Prince William and Prince Harry’s 58-year-old uncle hinted that he wasn’t planning to attend the festivities.
“I think we’ve never had an official role in it, just turned up like everyone else used to, when it was the hereditary peers and the House of Lords. That’s no longer the case,” Spencer said on the “Off Air… with Jane and Fi” podcast in February when asked about participating in the crowning ceremony. “There is some old coronet knocking around somewhere, but I won’t be wearing it soon, I don’t think.”
Host Jane Garvey then asked, “Will you not be going?”
“I wouldn’t have thought so. … I think it’s only about 2,000 people going,” he responded.
During Saturday’s ceremony at Westminster Abbey, both Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla, were blessed and anointed by The Archbishop of Canterbury. The king married Camilla in 2005 — nearly a decade after Charles and Diana got divorced — after allegations they had an affair. (He and Diana separated in 1992, and the late princess died in 1997.)
“Can I ask you, Charles, I imagine your feelings on that day might be quite mixed? Those of us with memories of your sister Diana, I think many of us … we will be thinking of her [on coronation day],” Garvey told Spencer on the podcast. “And I hope that’s not offensive, but she will be in our minds.”
The historian agreed. “I think that’s very complimentary, actually,” he replied. “Obviously, I think of Diana every day, in a different context.”
Spencer, who was in attendance at Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral in September 2022, added that he doesn’t find “the whole royal thing” as “interesting as a lot of people.”
“I just get on with my life,” he explained. “I look after what I have to look after at the estate, and I have a career, write books and such. … People obviously assume that I care a lot about that side of things, but it’s just a side part of my life.”
Prior to her passing, Elizabeth released a statement in support of Camilla inheriting a title after Charles took the throne.
“When, in the fullness of time, my son Charles becomes King, I know you will give him and his wife Camilla the same support that you have given me,” a February 2022 statement read. “And it is my sincere wish that, when that time comes, Camilla will be known as Queen Consort as she continues her own loyal service.”
