Although neither King Charles nor Prince William attended Prince Harry’s Invictus event at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday due to other commitments, the Duke had no shortage of supportive family members in the crowd.
Supporting him were his aunt, Lady Jane Fellowes, and uncle Earl Spencer, sister and brother of Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana.
Harry has remained close to his mother’s side of the family despite his move to the US in 2020, and the Spencers have supported the Duke on many occasions as his rift with the Windsors continued to deepen.
But for seasoned royal watchers, it’s perhaps no surprise that Harry’s frosty relationship with his father’s side of the family has brought him closer to the Spencers, since they don’t enjoy a particularly warm friendship with the royals either.
It’s a feud that goes back decades, to Princess Diana’s time in the royal family, and has continued to surface several times since her death.
Earl Spencer and his sister Lady Jane Fellowes attended Prince Harry’s Invictus Games event at St Paul’s Cathedral on Wednesday in a show of support for their nephew.
The closeness between Prince Harry and his uncle Charles was obvious as they embraced warmly inside the Cathedral as the Duke smiled.
Perhaps the first time the Spencers’ hostility toward the royals became evident was at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, in his gut-wrenching speech that paid tribute to her but made his feelings toward the royal family and the press known. .
After criticizing the British media for how his late sister was treated, Earl Spencer attacked the royal family while vowing to protect William and Harry, who were just 15 and 12 at the time.
Addressing Diana, he said: “Beyond that, on behalf of your mother and your sisters, I promise that we, your blood family, will do everything we can to continue the imaginative way in which you guided these two exceptional young men to their souls are not simply immersed in duty and tradition, but can sing openly as you planned.
The Spencer family has remained close and supportive of Prince Harry in the years since Diana’s death. Charles Spencer and Lady Sarah McCorquodale with his nephew at a service to remember Princess Diana in 2007
Earl Spencer gave a heartbreaking speech at Princess Diana’s funeral in 1997, vowing to protect his nephews despite his “duty” and referring to himself as her “blood family.”
Pictured: Earl Spencer, Princess Diana, King Charles, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale at Earl Spencer’s 21st birthday party.
‘We fully respect the heritage into which you were both born and will always respect and encourage you in your royal role, but we, like you, recognize the need for you to experience as many different aspects of life as possible to arm you spiritually and emotionally for the years to come.
“I know you wouldn’t have expected anything less from us.”
By mentioning “duty and tradition” and emphasizing that he, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale were Diana’s “blood family”, Earl Spencer made it clear that he and his brothers were close to the late princess, compared with the family he married into.
It was an incendiary speech perhaps further fueled by the fact that Princess Diana had named Earl Spencer guardian of William and Harry in her will.
An ITV documentary, Diana: The Day Britain Cried, which aired in 2017, revealed that Earl Spencer’s heartbreaking speech was, unsurprisingly, poorly received by the Royal Family, who did not even applaud at the end.
Martin Neary, director of music at Westminster Abbey, told the documentary: “I felt great sympathy for what she had suffered but at the same time I was shocked by some of the things that were said.”
“The princes applauded at the end, although the most senior members of the Royal Family did not.”
Earl Spencer has previously claimed that he was ‘lied to’ about William and Harry wanting to walk behind Princess Diana’s coffin in her funeral procession, which he claims they did not do.
Sir Malcom Ross, one of the Queen’s right-hand men and responsible for the funeral arrangements, added: “I was upset that day because I thought I was actually having a bit of a go at the Royal Family.”
‘It was my mistake leaving the Abbey doors open. What that meant was that when Lord Spencer made his comments, the audience outside applauded, which, in effect, caused the audience inside to applaud.
And he added, rather unconvincingly: “Good. I don’t think anyone was offended.
Earl Spencer has continued to speak out against the royal family in the years since her death, claiming he was lied to about his sister’s funeral procession.
In 2017, he claimed that royal officials had told him that his nephews wanted to walk behind Diana’s coffin in the funeral procession, after he had expressed concerns about it.
Describing the moment as “the most horrible half hour of my life”, he revealed that he still has nightmares about the “heartbreaking” experience.
However, he acknowledged that the walk would have been “a million times worse” for William and Harry.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, he criticized the children’s decision to follow the coffin as “a very strange and cruel thing to do”.
Earl Spencer and his sisters attended the unveiling of a Princess Diana memorial fountain in Hyde Park.
Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, the earl said he believed Princess Diana’s treatment was worse than that of Catherine, Princess of Wales.
He added: “In the end they lied to me and told me they wanted to do it, which of course they didn’t, but I didn’t realize it.”
In his funeral speech, he added: “I don’t think he said many concrete things. I believe every word I said was true and it was important for me to be honest.
Actually, he wasn’t looking to attack anyone. He was trying to celebrate Diana, and if in doing so he showed himself especially to the press, I think in a bad way, well, they deserved it.
Talking with him guardian In 2002, Earl Spencer further criticized the royal family for how often he saw his nephews.
He did not reveal how often he saw William and Harry, but said: “What I can say is that they may not be encouraged to stay in touch with their mother’s family.”
At the time, a spokesperson for St James’s Palace declined to comment on what was a “private family matter”.
In keeping with the royal family’s motto “never complain, never explain,” the dispute has been somewhat quieter; However, there have also been signs of hostility towards the Spencers on the royal side.
For example, neither Earl Spencer nor his sisters were invited to King Charles’ coronation last May, in a snub for the uncle of the king’s children.
At that moment, a friend of the count told the Independent: “The irritating thing is that Earl Spencer may well have declined the invitation for obvious historical reasons, but this brutal exclusion left no option for any elegant diplomacy.”
In recent months, Earl Spencer has conducted several interviews in light of the publication of his memoir, A Very Private School, in which he details the horrific experiences of abuse he suffered while attending a boarding school in Northamptonshire.
At the time of the interviews, conspiracy theories were circulating on the internet about the Princess of Wales, who had taken time off from royal duties as a result of abdominal surgery.
It was later revealed that the princess had been receiving chemotherapy due to the presence of cancer cells that were discovered after her surgery, however this was not publicly known at the time, leading to wild theories circulating online about her welfare.
Talking with him BBC, Earl Spencer addressed conspiracy theories surrounding Kate’s health, while the Palace remained silent about her condition.
He told Laura Kuenssberg that the situation had been worse for his late sister, saying, “I think it was more dangerous in the past.”
As Earl Spencer, Lady Jane Fellowes and Lady Sarah McCorquodale have continued to support Prince Harry since his move to the United States, they have filled a void left by the gap that has continued to deepen between the Duke and the royals.
Yesterday, as Harry proudly attended his Invictus Games event at St Paul’s Cathedral, he was photographed warmly hugging his uncle with a beaming smile on his face.
The Spencers’ presence at the event follows the support they have offered him many times since he moved to the US, with his aunts among the few members of Harry’s family to attend Princess Lilibet’s christening.
While there are glimmers of hope that Harry’s frosty relationship with his father’s side of the family is beginning to thaw, he has the strong support of his mother’s side of the family until that day comes.