Jacob Rees-Mogg has weighed in on the bitter row taking place between Buckingham Palace and Lord Spencer.

Speaking on GB News, he said: “An extraordinary row has broken out between Lord Spencer and the King.

“Lord Spencer is publishing the story of his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, serialised in the Daily Mail.

“And the first thing that has come out is an accusation that the King, as he now is, said shortly after the late Princess of Wales died, that she would soon be forgotten.

“Most unusually, the Royal Family, the Palace has hit back with a statement from the King, very similar to what the late Queen said about recollections may vary…

“This is really interesting. Pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and colour memory: Basically, the Palace is saying this has been made up.

“And I suppose the question is: Is Lord Spencer really like Prince Harry? Somebody who wishes to wash family laundry in public, the dirty linen in public, who has recollections that others don’t recognise, and wishes to damage a family which he is at least to some extent part of, admittedly peripherally in the case of Lord Spencer, rather than centrally in the case of Prince Harry.

“And the next question is: Does it damage the Royal Family? Those of us who remember 1997 will recall that the Royal Family, even our beloved late Queen became unpopular at that period; that there was a worry, practically, that the gates of Buckingham Palace could be stormed.

“The outpouring of grief, a nation that had always prided itself on its sang-froid and its stiff upper lip, suddenly became emotional with wailing and gnashing of teeth outside the palaces.

“At that point, the late queen handled it beautifully and made a wonderful speech that calmed everything down. But does the king need to do that? Will his words about Lord Spencer be sufficient, or is this another problem for the monarchy piled on top of the former Prince Andrew and, of course, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex now back stirring things up in the Cotswolds?”