King Charles Reflects on 1988 Avalanche That Killed His Close Friend in Klosters, Switzerland

King Charles III has spoken publicly about surviving a deadly avalanche in Switzerland that killed one of his closest friends, describing the incident as “a close thing” more than 38 years after it occurred. Charles made the comments on August 1, 2026, while hosting members of Scotland’s Assynt Mountain Rescue Team at the Castle of Mey. The meeting marked the 50th anniversary of the mountain rescue team, and the King reportedly discussed his experience in the mountains and the dangers faced by rescuers.



Related: Davos Klosters, Switzerland: The Cradle of Ski Tourism



“He spoke of the near miss he had in that avalanche in the context of the dangers mountains contain,” Assynt Mountain Rescue Team leader Ben Dyson told The Times. Charles has rarely spoken publicly about the incident in the decades since it occurred.



The avalanche struck on March 10, 1988, while the then-Prince of Wales was skiing off-piste with friends above Klosters, Switzerland, one of the resorts most closely associated with the British Royal Family. The disaster killed 34-year-old Major Hugh Lindsay, a former equerry to Queen Elizabeth II and a close friend of Charles. Another member of the group, Patti Palmer-Tomkinson, suffered serious injuries but survived.

The Royal Family had been visiting Klosters for a ski holiday. The day before the avalanche, Charles, Princess Diana and Sarah Ferguson posed for photographers on the slopes in what became one of the most famous images of the family’s Alpine holidays.



The following afternoon, Charles and five others ventured away from the marked ski runs in the Gotschnagrat area. According to the Swiss National Museum, the group had already skied the open Gotschnawang area twice when they made a third descent. The region had received approximately 50 centimeters (20 inches) of fresh snow following several days of cloudy weather, while the Swiss avalanche service had warned of a considerable risk of slab avalanches. A slab avalanche released at approximately 2:50 p.m.

Charles later recalled that it seemed as though “the whole mountainside” was moving past them. The avalanche swept two members of the group approximately 450 meters (1,480 feet) downhill. Mountain guide Bruno Sprecher, who was accompanying the group as a private guest rather than acting as its official guide, immediately began the rescue. Sprecher located Palmer-Tomkinson and administered first aid. Charles also helped dig her out, reportedly using his bare hands as he attempted to avoid injuring her further.

Lindsay was located almost 100 meters (330 feet) higher up the slope, but rescuers were unable to revive him. He was 34 years old and left behind his pregnant wife, Sarah Lindsay, who worked in the Buckingham Palace press office. Princess Diana reportedly chose not to ski that afternoon and was staying in Davos with Sarah Ferguson when the avalanche occurred. After Lindsay’s death, Diana helped support his pregnant widow. Charles was reportedly deeply shaken by the incident.



The avalanche prompted a criminal investigation by authorities in the Swiss canton of Graubünden. Early reports suggested that a mountain guide had led the group onto the avalanche-prone slope. That account was later corrected. Sprecher had been traveling with the group as a private acquaintance and was not officially acting as its guide. Charles himself initially accepted responsibility for the decision to ski the slope, with contemporary British reporting criticizing the Prince of Wales for participating in dangerous off-piste skiing. The investigation lasted approximately four months. On June 27, 1988, the Graubünden public prosecutor closed the case without charges.

Authorities concluded that Sprecher was not acting as an official guide and that no single member of the group could be held responsible for leading everyone onto the slope. The group was instead considered a “risk-bearing community,” according to the Swiss National Museum.

Charles’s recent comments are notable because he has never discussed the incident publicly in the years since. Nearly 40 years later, the memory of the deadly avalanche that killed one of his closest friends and nearly claimed his own life clearly remains on his mind.

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