Queen Camilla has suddenly become one of the most conspicuous absences surrounding the Royal Family, and the timing is difficult for royal watchers to ignore.

There is no confirmed statement from Buckingham Palace saying Camilla has been deliberately kept away from public engagements because of Charles Spencer’s explosive new memoir, “Swan Song: Diana, My Sister.” But with the book generating one bombshell after another before its September 22 publication, speculation is growing that staying out of the spotlight may be the easiest way for the Queen to avoid becoming part of a story that threatens to drag one of the most uncomfortable chapters of her past back into public view.

And the problem for Camilla is obvious: this is not simply another book about Princess Diana.

Spencer has already made extraordinary claims about King Charles and Diana’s marriage, including the allegation that Charles told Diana before their 1981 wedding that he was “very happy” to marry her but was “not actually in love with her.”

Then came the revelation that Spencer says Charles sounded “giddily elated — like a lottery winner” when he spoke to him shortly after Diana’s death.

Even more damaging to the royal image is Spencer’s interpretation of what Charles may have been thinking at the time. He writes that he suspected the Prince of Wales was thinking about how Diana’s death might free him to marry “the woman he loved” — Camilla.

Spencer has been careful to describe this as his recollection and interpretation, not an objective account of Charles’s private thoughts. But the damage to the old narrative is obvious.

Camilla’s name is right there in the middle of it.

And then there is perhaps the most chilling allegation so far: Spencer claims that during an argument over Diana’s funeral arrangements, Charles told him, “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” Buckingham Palace has pushed back, saying the King is mindful that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory.”

But according to CBS royal editor Roya Nikkhah, this may only be the beginning. Nikkhah said the serialization was going to continue and that there would be “some pretty sensational claims” still to come.

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That is where the phrase tip of the iceberg starts to feel particularly appropriate for the king and his wife.

The publisher itself has described “Swan Song” as containing “many revelations,” while Spencer says his goal is to tell Diana’s story from his own perspective and correct what he considers to be untruths about his sister.

Nobody can say yet exactly what additional revelations are coming, or whether Camilla will be directly mentioned in future excerpts. But the possibility alone creates an enormous communications problem for the Queen.

Because what can Camilla actually say? If she defends King Charles, the conversation could immediately return to the relationship between Charles and Diana and the affair that ultimately became one of the defining scandals of the marriage.

If she discusses Diana, the spotlight becomes even brighter. If she says nothing, her silence can become part of the story.

And that is why the theory surrounding Camilla’s reduced visibility is so irresistible to royal watchers. It is not proof that the Palace has hidden her away, but it is easy to understand why staying out of the firing line could seem preferable while Spencer’s revelations continue to emerge.

For decades, Camilla has worked to establish herself as Queen and move beyond the image of the woman at the center of Charles and Diana’s failed marriage.

Now Charles Spencer is reopening that history from his own perspective. And suddenly, the past is standing at the Palace gates again.

King Charles is already facing the allegations publicly through the Palace response. Camilla, meanwhile, has every reason to be careful about stepping into the conversation, because almost anything she says could bring the public straight back to the same old questions: Diana, Charles, the affair, the broken marriage and the woman who eventually became Queen.

The book is not even officially out yet. If the reports that more sensational revelations are still coming prove correct, the biggest question may no longer be what Charles Spencer has already revealed.

It may be what he has not revealed yet.