Sep 18, 2026 · 1h 43m
Spencer’s Diana revelations reopen the royal family’s oldest wounds
Bombshell Book From Diana's Brother, Oprah's USELESS Advice, and Lena Dunham's New Baby, with Maureen Callahan | Ep. 1401
The episode tests whether Charles Spencer’s account clarifies Diana’s final years or turns private trauma and royal conflict into public spectacle.
- 1Charles Spencer’s book raises fresh questions about Diana’s mental health, her death, and his role in shaping her legacy.
- 2The hosts argue that Harry and Meghan’s security and media strategy reflects the same royal public-relations tensions surrounding Diana.
- 3Oprah’s self-help messaging and Lena Dunham’s surrogacy become targets in a broader critique of celebrity privilege and image management.
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Megyn Kelly and Maureen Callahan argue that Charles Spencer’s dramatic funeral conduct may reveal self-promotion beneath claims of protecting Diana’s sons.
The brief
Megyn Kelly and Maureen Callahan examine claims in Charles Spencer’s forthcoming memoir about Diana, King Charles, her mental health, and the night she died.
Their central tension is whether Spencer is preserving Diana’s truth or staging himself as its guardian, especially when his account conflicts with earlier versions and royal portrayals.
The discussion links Diana’s relationship with tabloids to Harry and Meghan’s complaints about intrusion, arguing that modern royal publicity still depends on controlling the story.
The hosts then widen the critique to Patrick Clancy’s media campaign, Oprah’s paid self-help spectacle, and Lena Dunham’s surrogacy and carefully managed public persona.
The standout thread is Spencer’s funeral role: Megyn and Maureen read the dramatic eulogy and disputed family decisions as possible self-promotion disguised as devotion.
Across royal scandal and celebrity culture, the episode asks who benefits when intimate pain becomes a public narrative—and who gets to define the truth.
What was said on this episode
34 statements · 5 positive · 26 negative · 1 mixed · 2 neutral
Maureen tends to believe Spencer’s account of Charles sounding elated after Diana’s death.
“There's such specificity with it that I tend to believe it.”
Listen at 3:23
Diana became more iconic after her death.
“In fact, she became more iconic in death.”
Listen at 4:55
Megyn believes Diana had mental-health problems.
“I do believe Diana had mental problems”
Listen at 5:09
Maureen believes Diana had borderline personality disorder.
“I think Diana was a borderline.”
Listen at 5:55
Megyn claims Diana actively fed information to paparazzi.
“she was the one who fed them.”
Listen at 6:25
Megyn claims Diana wanted paparazzi attention and intrusion.
“She wanted to be stalked. She wanted the attack.”
Listen at 7:07
Borderline personality disorder is marked by extreme emotional dysregulation.
“it's marked by really extreme emotional dysregulation.”
Listen at 8:19
Megyn claims Diana contributed substantially to her own problems.
“She created a lot of the problems for herself, too.”
Listen at 10:11
Maureen says another account portrays the royals as sensitive toward William and Harry.
“it seems that for all of Earl Spencer's grenade throwing, there is another version of this story.”
Listen at 16:50
Megyn assesses King Charles as not cruel.
“I don't think he's a cruel man.”
Listen at 17:05
Megyn says Charles and Diana’s marriage was arranged.
“It was obviously an arranged marriage.”
Listen at 17:11
Maureen believes Charles may have had a relationship with a male valet.
“I do believe that Charles perhaps did have something with the male valet.”
Listen at 18:41
Maureen says Charles and Camilla’s great-love narrative was a successful public-relations construction.
“the Charles and Camilla as the true love story of the ages has been a very successful narrative. PR job.”
Listen at 21:32
Maureen says Meghan amplified and unlocked Harry’s preexisting anger and entitlement.
“I think she was the one who saw that in him and really unlocked it and a monster was born.”
Listen at 24:36
Megyn claims Harry is now widely loathed.
“He's not only not beloved, he's loathed now.”
Listen at 25:40
Megyn believes Harry and Meghan plan to regain royal access through their children.
“I really think that's what they're planning.”
Listen at 27:04
Maureen predicts William and Catherine will resist Harry and Meghan’s strategy.
“I just think William and Catherine are far too shrewd to fall for it”
Listen at 27:09
Maureen predicts William will permanently cut off Harry.
“William will never have anything to do with him after this.”
Listen at 28:48
Maureen says Spencer’s funeral speech primarily served his own interests.
“that speech was not in service of his sister. It was in service of himself.”
Listen at 43:51
Megyn suggests Spencer’s book may be motivated by financial need.
“it could be a play for money.”
Listen at 45:04
Megyn recommends preventing a spouse who threatens harm from being alone with children.
“when your spouse says, I'm thinking about hurting the children, there should be no moments alone between that spouse and the children”
Listen at 56:20
Maureen argues a concerned parent should not send a spouse away for errands.
“if you are truly thinking that you are on the verge of harming your children and your husband is working from home, perhaps because he's worried you might harm the children and it's time for dinner, you order Grubhub.”
Listen at 57:23
Maureen claims Harry and Meghan’s school-security controversy is a ploy for taxpayer-funded security.
“This is all a ploy.”
Listen at 1:12:03
Megyn says Meghan’s security disclosures are intended to make her feel important.
“She wants to feel important. That's what this is.”
Listen at 1:13:12
Megyn says Mel Robbins lacks training and qualifications for her advice.
“she has no absolute, absolutely no training. She's got no special qualifications to give any of this.”
Listen at 1:17:14
Megyn interprets Oprah’s message as emphasizing her own greatness.
“what you really need to know is how great I am.”
Listen at 1:21:10
Maureen says Oprah’s advice presupposes privileged circumstances in a Western democracy.
“that presupposes that you're lucky enough to be born in a Western democracy.”
Listen at 1:22:43
Maureen says Oprah transformed spiritualism and self-actualization into consumerism.
“her greatest accomplishment on the Oprah Winfrey show was was bastardizing spiritualism and self-actualization as consumerism and materialism”
Listen at 1:27:43
Megyn predicts Oprah’s Sphere event will mainly feature performative self-help.
“What you're going to get is more Oprah acting.”
Listen at 1:31:12
Megyn says not everyone should become a parent.
“Not everybody should be a mother, honestly.”
Listen at 1:32:02
Megyn says Lena Dunham should not be a caregiver.
“This is a sick person who should not be anybody's caregiver.”
Listen at 1:35:07
Maureen characterizes Lena Dunham as disturbed.
“She is a disturbed individual.”
Listen at 1:36:18
Megyn says Lena Dunham is no longer culturally relevant.
“why are we still, pretending Lena Dunham is a thing.”
Listen at 1:37:03
Maureen says portraying abortion as insignificant misleads young women.
“it's a bunch of bullshit to be feeding young women that it's no big deal.”
Listen at 1:42:09
Statements are attributed to the speaker as said on the episode and reflect their view at the time, not PodLume's. They are not advice.
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