EXCLUSIVE: Queen Camilla 'Acting as Peacekeeper' Amid King Charles and Earl Spencer Row

Queen Camilla is said to be attempting to act as a peacekeeper amid the bitter war of words between King Charles and Earl Spencer over his explosive new memoir about Princess Diana, RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The 79-year-old made a pointed appeal for "togetherness" during her literary festival at Chatsworth House in Derbyshire after extracts from Spencer's new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, triggered a rare public response from Buckingham Palace.

Spencer, 62, has made a series of allegations concerning Charles, 77, and his relationship with Diana, who died aged 36 in 1997.

A royal source claimed: "Camilla understands just how much emotion and painful history is wrapped up in anything involving Diana, the King and Charles Spencer. These are events that affected all of their lives profoundly, and she knows that even after all these years there are memories and feelings that remain incredibly raw.

"Her overwhelming instinct in a situation like this is to try to lower the temperature rather than contribute to another round of accusations and counter-accusations. She doesn't believe anything is gained by continually reopening old wounds or allowing deeply personal disagreements about the past to develop into an increasingly hostile public battle."

The insider continued, "Camilla is particularly conscious that there are different memories of what happened during an extraordinarily difficult period for the family. People experienced those events from very different perspectives, and she recognizes that emotions surrounding Diana are still exceptionally powerful.

Camilla did not directly mention Spencer, Diana, or the controversy during her recent appearance at The Queen's Reading Room Festival.

Instead, she quoted a proverb emphasizing the importance of people working together. Camilla said: "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together."

Our source said the timing inevitably gave her words additional significance.

They added: "It would be wrong to suggest Camilla went into that speech intending to deliver some kind of coded rebuttal to Charles Spencer or to answer the allegations he has made about the King. She didn't mention him, Diana or the book, and she certainly wasn't attempting to litigate individual claims from a stage at a literary festival.

"But Camilla is acutely aware of what is happening around the family and the atmosphere in which she was speaking. She knew that Charles Spencer's claims were dominating the conversation and that anything she said about family, unity or togetherness was inevitably going to carry greater significance because of that timing."

They explained, "The sentiment nevertheless reflects how Camilla approaches situations like this. She has seen firsthand how quickly disagreements involving Diana and the past can become intensely emotional public arguments, with every new intervention creating another headline and encouraging somebody else to respond.

"Her concern is that once that cycle begins, it becomes incredibly difficult to stop. One allegation produces a response, that response creates another grievance, and before long everybody is once again arguing publicly about events that remain deeply painful for all of those involved.

"Camilla doesn't believe there is anything to be gained from allowing that to happen. She would much rather see the temperature brought down and give people the space to process their feelings privately instead of turning an already sensitive family history into another prolonged public confrontation."

However, the source noted, "That doesn't mean she expects Charles Spencer to abandon his memories or believes difficult subjects should never be discussed. She recognizes that he lost his sister and has his own perspective on what happened, just as the King has his.

"What Camilla wants to avoid is those differing recollections becoming the basis for an escalating personal battle. Her preference will always be restraint, particularly when the alternative is reopening wounds that have already caused enormous pain across the family.

"So while her words shouldn't be presented as a direct response to the book, the emphasis on togetherness certainly reflects the approach she would like to see now – less confrontation, less public point-scoring and a greater effort to prevent the past from creating another damaging royal dispute in the present."

The controversy centers on Spencer's account of his sister's life and marriage to Charles, as well as the aftermath of her death in a Paris car crash.

Spencer alleges in the memoir that Charles sounded "giddily elated" and like a "lottery winner" when speaking to him after Diana died.

Buckingham Palace has challenged Spencer's recollections, issuing an unusually personal response to the claims.

A Palace spokesperson said the King was "mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise."

Camilla's own history remains intertwined with the breakdown of Charles and Diana's marriage. Diana famously discussed Charles's relationship with Camilla during her 1995 Panorama interview.

She said at the time: "Well, there were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded."

Charles and Diana divorced in 1996, the year before her death.