What happened
Earl Spencer has alleged that King Charles appeared unusually upbeat when he told him that Diana, Princess of Wales, had died in a Paris car crash in 1997. The claim is made in Spencer’s new memoir “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister”, which is being serialised by the Daily Mail.

Who said what
Spencer recalls Charles sounding “giddily elated – like a lottery winner” during their conversation on the morning of Diana’s death. Julian Payne, Charles’s former communications secretary, said he did not recognise Spencer’s portrayal and remembered the King insisting that Diana’s memory be protected.

The comments – published in the Daily Mail for a second straight day – are “incendiary”, said Luke Alsford in Metro. On the Telegraph’s The Daily T podcast, Jacob Rees-Mogg asked why someone who criticised the media for making his sister the “most hunted person of the modern age” would agree to serialise his book in a newspaper.

What next?
Spencer’s memoir is continuing to generate controversy as further extracts emerge. Neither Prince William nor Prince Harry was reportedly given advance warning of its contents. Buckingham Palace has declined to comment further.

What happened
Staff at Barclays have said they want extra compensation to offset the fact that they are being asked to spend more time in the office.

Staff, who have been expected to work in the office two days a week, should be in the office for at least three days from next month, according to the company. But thousands of unionised staff are “calling for payouts to help cover travel costs and an exemption for those living more than 40 minutes from work”, according to the Financial Times.

Who said what
Barclays “is the latest bank to reduce work-from-home allowances”, said The Times, with full office attendance having “been enforced by JP Morgan, the world’s largest investment bank”.

“Our members think that Barclays is trying to fix a problem that doesn’t exist,” said Rick Coyle, a national officer at Unite.

What next?
Barclays is yet to agree to the demands, but it is engaging with the union over its return to office proposal.

Who we are and who we become may be dictated by our genes – at least partially. A new study links a variety of gene variants to various personality traits and lifestyles. These findings displayed patterns across large demographics, although experiences and surroundings still play a pivotal role in individual development.

More than 1,000 gene variants are associated with personality, including at least 800 not previously linked to it, according to a study published in the journal Nature. These genetic variants also “partially predict mental and physical health, longevity, education, career paths and outcomes, and even how people are perceived by close others,” said a release about the study.

While scientists have known that a variety of factors, including DNA, could affect personality, the “challenge has been deciphering the specific pathways through which a genetic blueprint nudges the direction of a person’s life”, said The New York Times.

Of course, experiences can also shape personality. Genetic variants linked to openness “predicted that a person would move to more cosmopolitan neighbourhoods”, but “living in those neighbourhoods may reinforce and further shape that same trait”, added the release.

Genes obviously “influence our personality predispositions”, Professor Michel Nivard, a genetic epidemiologist at the University of Bristol and a senior author of the study, told ScienceAlert. “But there are clearly also substantial environmental causes of personality that collectively explain the majority of individual differences.”