Piers Morgan has sensationally claimed he is going to sue Earl Charles Spencer over what he describes as “fabricated inaccuracies” in his forthcoming memoir on Princess Diana.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, has caused a considerable stir among royal circles following the book’s remarkable claims against King Charles in and around the death of his former wife.
These allegations include the then-Prince of Wales sounding “giddily elated – like a lottery winner” when hearing of her death, or telling the Earl: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.”
Such allegations infuriated the former editor of the Daily Mail, who took to social media to blast the Earl for “shamelessly profiting” from Diana, and “deliberately goading the King in the most repulsive way”.
However, the latest excerpt from the memoir, which is due to hit the shelves tomorrow, has left Mr Morgan seething and threatening legal action.
Speaking on Piers Morgan Uncensored, the journalist said the book “contains fabricated inaccuracies which will strike to the heart of his credibility.”
The 61-year-old cited a section of the memoir in which Earl Spencer accuses Mr Morgan of publishing photos of Diana from a hidden camera exercising in a leotard in the Daily Mirror.
The book first recites how the Earl personally telephoned tabloid editors to withdraw their invitations to Diana’s funeral.
Piers Morgan has sensationally claimed he is going to sue Earl Charles Spencer over what he describes as ‘fabricated inaccuracies’ in his forthcoming memoir on Princess Diana
|
PA
According to the passage Mr Morgan read aloud on air, Earl Spencer wrote: “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.”
The Earl then attributed the journalist’s apparent hostility to guilt, writing that “four years earlier, he and his Sunday Mirror counterpart had published photographs taken with hidden cameras by a gym owner” showing Diana working out in a leotard.
The book describes the episode as “such an intolerable invasion of her privacy” that Diana launched legal proceedings against Mirror Group.
Earl Spencer claimed the publisher ultimately covered approximately £1million in legal costs and made £200,000 in charitable donations.
Earl Spencer has made a series of strong allegations against the King – and Piers Morgan – in his upcoming memoir
|
INSTAGRAM: @CHARLES.EARL.SPENCERThe Earl also says: “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…”
During an explosive monologue, Mr Morgan responded: “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 bulls*** and very, very easy bulls*** for me to prove it.”
He states that the photos were published in the newspaper on November 7, 1993 – almost two years before he joined the outlet.
“In fact, at the time of the gym pictures, I was doing a showbiz column on the Mirror’s arch-rival, The Sun,” he said this evening. “About as far removed from responsibility for the Mirror scoop as I could possibly have been.”
He also noted that, up until her death in 1997, the former Good Morning Britain presenter was in constant communication with the late Princess of Wales while editor of the Daily Mail.
“Ironically, by that time in her life, I think I was probably talking to her more often than he was,” he claimed.
He then added: “My question, though, is this: if Earl Spencer can be so incredibly, defamatorily wrong about such basic facts involving me, well, why should we believe anything else he puts in this book?”
And directly addressing Earl Spencer, he said: “Earl Spencer, you’ll be hearing, and your publishers, from my lawyers. Because I would like the complete lie that you’ve published about me, and those photographs, to be removed from your book.
“And I would like a donation to be made to the King’s Trust for the damage that you’ve caused with your lie, after all.”
GB News has approached Earl Spencer for comment.