Piers Morgan threatens to sue Charles Spencer over a ‘Swan Song’ passage

Piers Morgan has reared his ugly head in the middle of Charles Spencer’s book promotion. Big surprise, right? I assume Piers got some calls from the palace, probably Queen Camilla slurring down the phone at him: “do something, make an ass out of yourself!” As it turns out, Charles Spencer gave Piers an opening, namechecking Piers regarding a Diana incident which actually had nothing to do with Piers. The issue: in 1993, the Daily Mirror published invasive photos of Diana in a leotard, at her gym. Spencer laid the blame for those invasive photos at Piers Morgan’s feet, since Piers was editor of the Mirror for years. The problem? Piers wasn’t actually working for the Mirror when they published those particular Diana photos. Now Piers is threatening to sue Charles Spencer:

Piers Morgan has said he will sue Earl Spencer over “fabricated inaccuracies” and “brazen falsity” in his book about Diana, Princess of Wales. The broadcaster said on his YouTube show, Piers Morgan Uncensored, that the book contained factual errors “which will strike to the heart of [Lord Spencer’s] credibility”.

He highlighted a passage in which the Earl accused him of publishing pictures of the Princess in a leotard in the Mirror, which Morgan used to edit. However, Morgan said that at the time the photographs were published – in the Sunday Mirror in 1993 – he was not working for the Mirror Group. He edited the Daily Mirror from 1995 to 2004.

“I come across in the most despicable manner imaginable. There’s just one problem. It’s all b——t and very, very easy b——t for me to prove it,” Morgan said. He continued: “Earl Spencer was estranged from Diana and living in South Africa at the time of her death. As editor of the Daily Mirror, I had lunch with her at Kensington Palace with Prince William. After that, it wasn’t uncommon for her to call my office or for me to run stories by her… Ironically, by that time in her life, I think I was probably talking to her more often than he was.

“My question though is this, if Earl Spencer can be so incredibly, defamatorially wrong about such basic facts involving me, well, why should we believe anything else he puts in this book?”

Lord Spencer has made a series of claims in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which was published on Tuesday, writing that the King said “we’ll forget her soon enough” after she died and that he sounded “giddily elated” in the wake of her death. Buckingham Palace has denied the claims.

In his own response to the book, Morgan said: “Spencer recounts how he personally called round the tabloid newspaper editors to uninvite them from Princess Diana’s funeral, after they had all been invited. I remember this well, because I was one of them.” Morgan read an extract from the book, which said: “They realised they were unable to be rude to the brother of the much-mourned princess… 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. 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.”

Morgan added: “[The Earl] then says ‘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… It must have been an extraordinary sensation for this powerful quartet…They were used to dishing out such treatment, without ever receiving it in return.”

Addressing his audience, Morgan remarked: “Well, this is all pretty extraordinary stuff, isn’t it? And very damning, particularly about me. The photographs which he says that I published were printed by the Sunday Mirror on November 7, 1993. I joined the Daily Mirror in October in 1995. In fact, at the time of the gym pictures, I was doing a showbiz column on the Mirror’s arch-rival, The Sun. About as far removed from responsibility for the Mirror scoop as I could possibly have been.”

Morgan also accused Lord Spencer of “using the Harry and Meghan playbook” of “putting their truth before the truth”, continuing: “I expect there will be many more examples of brazen falsity after what I’ve uncovered… In the meantime, Earl Spencer, you’ll be hearing, and your publishers, from my lawyers.”

Lord Spencer has been contacted for comment.

[From The Telegraph]

Yeah, it’s a mistake. If I was arguing on Spencer’s behalf, I would say that he meant that in 1997, Piers was then the editor for a tabloid which once published those leotard photos, and just make the argument that the section was poorly worded. Like, this is not defamatory, in my opinion. This is just a chronology mistake. And the main thrust is that Piers is still puffy with rage that he was blocked from attending Diana’s funeral. Incidentally, that’s still one of the grossest things to me, that British tabloid editors and owners “expect” to get seats at royal events like weddings and funerals. Remember how Prince Harry basically went to war with his family to block various tabloid editors from attending his wedding as well?

Update: Charles Spencer issued an apology to Piers and a clarification. Piers responded and pretty much gave away the game.

BREAKING: Charles Spencer apologies to @piersmorgan for a factual inaccuracy in his book.
Spencer claimed Morgan was at the Mirror when it published photos of Princess Diana in the gym in 1993.
Morgan was at the News of the World at the time and did not start at Mirror Group… pic.twitter.com/AgJPNWFrSv

— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) September 22, 2026

BREAKING NEWS:
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.

— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) September 22, 2026

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Piers’ social media, Backgrid.