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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Jessica Gibb

Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer breaks silence after Harry & Meghan's series

Charles Spencer has broken his silence after the final episodes of Harry & Meghan were released on Netflix.

Princess Diana's younger brother Charles, 9th Earl Spencer, shared a picture of King Charles I - whose quarrels with Parliament provoked a civil war that led to his execution in 1649.

The British peer and author has remained silent since his nephew Prince Harry's explosive claims about the royal family.

But he has now taken to Instagram with a post that royal fans dubbed "very apt" in the light of recent revelations.

He posted: “Portrait of Charles I, hanging in the Picture Gallery at @althorphouse - the king visited the house in the 1630s, as an honoured guest - at one banquet recorded as feasting on herons, peacocks, and even the humble potato (which was relatively new to England then)."

Harry & Meghan in the final instalment of their Netflix series (Netflix)

"He was also allowed to visit Althorp [the Spencer estate] several times in 1647, when being held prisoner at his palace of Holdenby - after losing the first English Civil War. The king’s hobbies included Bible-reading, chess, and lawn bowls, and Althorp had an excellent bowling green. Charles was executed in London, in January 1649.”

One royal fan replied: “Very apt portrait and king to reflect on today.”

“I wish I was a fly on your wall. The history your family would have collected in time,” another added.

A third wrote: "You may be silent on the Netflix drama but after this post about a previous King Charles, might one dare to say you are #TeamHarry - very sagacious to stay silent but let history speak for you.."

Diana, who died at the age of 36, is buried in the grounds of Althorp Park.

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, is Prince Harry's uncle (Dave Benett/Getty Images for Charles Sabine)

Her brother Earl Spencer has been the custodian of the family estate since the death of his father in 1992.

After their mother's death, Prince Harry and Prince William revealed they could not understand why people were "breaking down" until they realised the impact she had on the world.

The two brothers spoke of their heartbreak in the days after their mother's death in a documentary called BBC documentary called Diana, 7 Days, which was released in 2017 to mark the 20th anniversary of her death.

Speaking on the programme, William said: "People wanted to grab us, to touch us.

“They were shouting, wailing, literally wailing at us, throwing flowers, and yelling, sobbing, breaking down, people fainted, collapsed. It was a very alien environment.

Princess Diana during her first official photo call with Prince Charles in 1981 after their engagement (Getty Images)
Prince Harry talks candidly about his family in his new Netflix series (Netflix)

"I couldn’t understand why everyone wanted to cry as loud as they did and show such emotion as they did when they didn’t really know our mother.

“I did feel a bit protective at times about that.

"You didn’t even know her – why and how are you so upset?

"Now looking back, I have learnt to understand what it was she gave the world and what she gave a lot of people."

William and Harry were at Balmoral with their father, grandmother the Queen and grandfather Prince Philip when they were told the tragic news that Diana had died aged 36 following a car crash in Paris.

The family rallied around the princes before they returned to London and also inspected the floral tributes left to their mother outside Balmoral.

Harry told the programme: "Looking back now probably the last thing I wanted to do was read what other people were saying about my mother.

“Yes it was amazing, it was incredibly moving to know, but at that point, I wasn’t there.

“I was still in shock."

Meanwhile, Harry and Meghan's bombshell Netflix docuseries has shared further footage of Princess Diana's controversial interview with Martin Bashir - going against Prince William's wishes again.

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