Piers Morgan has threatened legal action against Earl Spencer over “fabricated inaccuracies” in his new memoir about Princess Diana.
Speaking on Monday’s Piers Morgan Uncensored, the broadcaster said lawyers would contact the earl and his publisher.
Piers wants the disputed passage removed from Swan Song: Diana, My Sister. He also requested a donation to the King’s Trust.
The warning creates a fresh row around the book on its release day. It follows Buckingham Palace’s challenge to Earl Spencer’s separate claims about King Charles. Those allegations concern Charles’ reported reaction after Diana’s death in 1997.
On Tuesday, Earl Spencer broke his silence and issued an apology to Piers.
Why Piers Morgan disputes Earl Spencer’s book
Piers says the memoir wrongly links him to hidden-camera gym photographs of Diana published by the Sunday Mirror. The images appeared on November 7, 1993, according to his account.
However, he said he did not join the Daily Mirror until October 1995. At the time, Piers said he was writing a showbusiness column for rival newspaper The Sun.
He told viewers: “I joined The Daily Mirror in October 1995.”
Piers later edited the Daily Mirror from 1995 until 2004. That timeline forms the centre of his rebuttal.
He called the book’s description a provable falsehood and questioned the reliability of its wider claims.
What Earl Spencer alleges about Piers Morgan
In the book, Earl Spencer describes contacting tabloid editors before Diana’s funeral and withdrawing their invitations.
He writes: “The only one who sounded surly, as opposed to merely confused or embarrassed, was Piers Morgan of the Mirror, who snarled with annoyance before he hung up.”
The earl then connects that reaction to the earlier gym photographs. He claims Piers and a Sunday Mirror counterpart published the pictures four years before Diana died.
Earl Spencer writes: “I assumed Morgan must be feeling particular guilt because, four years earlier, he and his Sunday Mirror counterpart had published photographs taken with hidden cameras by a gym owner. They were of Diana working out in a leotard.
“This was such an intolerable invasion of her privacy that Diana instructed lawyers to sue the Mirror Group and to block further use of the images.”
He adds that “in the immediate aftermath of Diana’s death, Morgan was one of four tabloid editors named, shamed and photographed in an article looking at who might be held responsible for the paparazzi’s role”.
Piers strongly denies responsibility for the publication of the gym images of Diana. He argues his employment history makes the allegation factually impossible.
Piers said: “Well, this is all pretty extraordinary stuff, isn’t it? And very damning, particularly about me.
“I come across in the most despicable manner imaginable. There’s just one problem. It’s all [bleep] and very, very easy [bleep] for me to prove it.
“In the meantime, Earl Spencer, you’ll be hearing, and your publishers, from my lawyers.”
He said he wants the “complete lie about me” removed and asked for the charitable payment. No proposed amount was disclosed.
Earl Spencer apologises to Piers Morgan
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for Earl Spencer shared a statement following Piers’ comments.
It read: “Earl Spencer’s account of his conversation with Piers Morgan is accurate.
“Mr Morgan was surly and annoyed when Earl Spencer called personally to tell him that he was not welcome at his sister’s funeral.
“The book then records Earl Spencer’s assumption that Mr Morgan’s response was because he was editor of the Daily Mirror when the Mirror Group had published highly intrusive photographs of Princess Diana at the gym.
“The photographs were published by the Sunday Mirror on 7 November 1993. Mr Morgan has pointed out that he did not join the Daily Mirror until October 1995.
“As an historian, accuracy is important to Earl Spencer. He therefore wishes to clarify that his assumption was incorrect. Earl Spencer apologises to Mr Morgan for this error.”
Piers responded to the apology on X. He said: “Earl Spencer has apologised to me for his defamatory lies published in his new book, Swan Song, published today. But I am pursuing legal action against him and his publisher Penguin to have the lies removed, and damages paid to the King’s Trust.”
Claims about King Charles in Earl Spencer book
Swan Song also contains allegations about King Charles’ behaviour after Diana’s fatal Paris crash. Earl Spencer alleges Charles said Diana would soon be forgotten during a dispute over her funeral procession.
He also claims the then prince sounded “giddily elated” after her death. Buckingham Palace took the unusual step of issuing a response.
Read more: Queen Elizabeth II’s ‘well-meaning’ gesture after Princess Diana’s death that Earl Spencer declined
Its statement said: “While we do not comment on books as a matter of principle, His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss.”
Earl Spencer had not publicly responded to Piers’ allegations when the reports were published. That leaves the broadcaster’s threatened action as the memoir’s newest dispute.
ED! has contacted representatives for Earl Spencer for comment.
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