Princess Diana’s former butler Paul Burrell claims Earl Spencer was largely absent from her world during her final five years.
Speaking on the latest episode of Piers Morgan Uncensored, Diana’s former butler disputed the memoir’s account of those years.
His intervention follows Piers Morgan’s legal threat against Earl Spencer over a separate passage in the same memoir.
The book was released on Tuesday and offers Charles Spencer’s account of his sister’s life.
Paul told Piers: “He was not part of her world.”
Paul Burrell challenges Earl Spencer’s account
Piers said the book had left him believing the siblings’ relationship became fractured before Diana’s death in 1997.
Paul replied that Charles had not been there during the period under discussion.
He claimed Diana showed him a letter in which Charles described himself as being on the edge of her life.
Paul then claimed the siblings barely spoke during Diana’s final five years. He said he could count Charles’s Buckingham Palace lunch visits on one hand.
“And in the last five years of Diana’s life, they barely spoke. I can tell you on one hand the times he came to Buckingham Palace for lunch. He was not a regular visitor, they were not in regular contact.”
According to Paul, Charles was neither a regular visitor nor someone maintaining frequent contact with Diana. Paul also criticised the memoir’s coverage of that period.
“The last five years of her life are pretty vague in the book because he knows nothing about them.”
Paul went further with his allegations about Diana’s wider family relationships.
He alleged Diana felt relatives sought her out for prestigious seats, restaurants and Wimbledon’s Royal Box.
The former butler further claimed the Spencer family envied her achievements and the affection she received from people worldwide.
He admitted: “Diana achieved so much in her short lifetime, much more than the entire Spencer family put together. And I basically think they were jealous. They were jealous of her success and the love that she had from people around the world.”
Earl Spencer apologises over Piers Morgan error
The programme also addressed a separate factual dispute involving Piers and the memoir. Piers called for the book to be withdrawn and demanded a payment to the King’s Trust Charity.
He also said he was continuing legal action against Earl Spencer. The book described Piers as Daily Mirror editor when Mirror Group published gym photographs of Diana in 1993.
A statement issued for Charles said the photographs appeared in the Sunday Mirror on November 7, 1993.
It noted Piers did not join the Daily Mirror until October 1995. The statement said Charles’s assumption was incorrect and stressed that historical accuracy mattered to him.
It added: “Earl Spencer apologises to Mr Morgan for this error.”
That admission addresses the dates and Piers’s role. It does not resolve Paul’s separate criticism of Charles’s memoir.
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