Earl Spencer stands by Diana claims as book published and Piers Morgan threatens legal action
Earl Spencer's memoir is published as he defends claims about King Charles, accuses the palace of gaslighting, and faces a legal threat from Piers Morgan.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
Earl Spencer's new book about Princess Diana, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, has been published after days of serialisation in the Daily Mail, and the row with Buckingham Palace is still running. Spencer has stood by his account of events from 1997, while the palace has made clear it will not respond to every new claim.
The book contains a series of explosive allegations about King Charles, then Prince of Wales. Spencer claims that during a phone call after Diana's death, Charles said Diana would be forgotten soon enough. He also claims Charles sounded giddily elated like a lottery winner and that he suspected Charles was thinking about how the death might free him to marry Camilla. Spencer says Charles went ballistic during a row over whether Princes William and Harry should walk behind their mother's coffin, and that Spencer hung up on him. Other extracts claim Charles told Diana before their wedding that he did not love her, that Diana said Charles was in love with his valet, that the late Queen asked what Diana was up to now when she first heard of the crash, and that Prince Philip insisted Spencer walk between William and Harry at the funeral.
Buckingham Palace issued an unusually robust statement after the first extracts. It 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. The palace has not responded to later extracts. The statement has been compared to the late Queen's phrase recollections may vary after the Sussexes' Oprah Winfrey interview.
In an exclusive BBC interview with Laura Kuenssberg, Spencer insisted he was telling the truth. He described Charles as having gone ballistic and said he told friends and family at the time because the remark was so monstrous. He accused the palace of gaslighting him and called its statement astonishingly provocative and below the belt. He also said he knew more about the King but had chosen not to include it, and that his book was his final word on Diana.
Spencer also said he saw echoes of Diana's treatment in the media coverage of Prince Harry and Meghan, describing it as a cancerous influence. He said he was on the side of both his nephews and rejected the idea that he was only in Harry's camp. He said Harry was completely fine with the book and that his sisters were still digesting it.
The publication has been overshadowed by a legal threat from Piers Morgan. Spencer wrote that Morgan was editor of the Sunday Mirror when intrusive gym photographs of Diana were published. Morgan says he did not work at the Mirror at that time and has threatened to sue. Spencer has apologised for what he called a small error and says it will be corrected in the second edition, but he stands by the rest of the book.
Senior royals have carried on with public duties. King Charles held an AI summit at Dumfries House in Scotland. The Prince and Princess of Wales visited the Isle of Bute. Prince Harry made his first public appearances since moving back to the UK, including an Invictus Games event and the WellChild Awards, but did not comment on his uncle's book. Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace and Harry's team have all declined to comment further.
On screen
Stills are sampled automatically at 60-second intervals. Where shown, the still is the nearest available frame from the relevant broadcast segment and is included to show what was on screen during that part of the broadcast. A still may not correspond to the exact second of a quoted phrase.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.
| Claim | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC NEWS Verified Live | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buckingham Palace responded that grief can cloud a person's memory. | |||||||||
| Earl Spencer alleged that Prince Charles said Diana would be forgotten soon enough. | · | ||||||||
| Earl Spencer claimed Charles 'went ballistic' during a row. | · | · | · | · | |||||
| Earl Spencer gave an interview to the BBC maintaining his account was truthful. | · | · | · | · | |||||
| The memoir 'Swan Song Diana my Sister' contains an allegation. | · | · | · | · | |||||
| Earl Spencer said the media treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan echoes that of Princess Diana. | · | · | · | · | · | ||||
| Earl Spencer's book claims Prince Harry was left to spin out of control after the funeral due to a lack of care. | · | · | · | · | · | ||||
| Prince Harry made his first public appearance in the UK and was asked about Earl Spencer's book. | · | · | · | · | · | ||||
| Earl Spencer said he was gaslit by the palace or the King. | · | · | · | · | · | · | |||
| Palace officials were furious about the first extract and considered its timing unconscionable. | · | · | · | · | · | · | |||
| Piers Morgan threatened to sue Earl Spencer over alleged fabricated inaccuracies. | · | · | · | · | · | · | |||
| A former protection officer for Charles said he never believed the Prince capable of such a comment. | · | · | · | · | · | · | · |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
BBC News gave the story rolling coverage across rolling bulletins, Newscast, The Context and The Media Show. It focused on the palace's unusually strong statement, the BBC's exclusive Laura Kuenssberg interview with Earl Spencer, his accusation that the King was gaslighting him, and the media and legal fallout from the book.
- “Who are we to believe? Well, I'm telling the truth.”
- “You can feel the anger in it.”
- “I stand by the book.”
Channel 4's summaries and evening report kept the palace rejection and later moral critique clear. Its evening coverage framed the row as two families still at war over Diana's memory and questioned the dignity of the fight.
- “Two men who profoundly let down Diana, in her latter days, particularly, are slugging it out over her memory”
- “I'm telling the truth.”
BBC ONE West carried the story across regional bulletins and Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. It focused on Spencer doubling down, his claim that the palace was gaslighting him, the echoes he sees in media treatment of Harry and Meghan, and the family rift.
- “I'm telling the truth.”
- “I told friends and family straight away, close friends and family, about what had been said because it was so monstrous.”
ITV1 leaned into the question of who should be believed, with Chris Ship analysing the palace's decision to break with precedent. Its coverage followed new extracts, Harry's public events being overshadowed, and the Piers Morgan legal row on publication day.
- “Who should people believe? Diana's wounded brother who has a book to sell or her ex-husband who has claimed grief can distort the memory.”
- “I cannot believe you just said that. And I hung up on him.”
Sky News covered the story heavily with royal correspondent reports and panel discussions. It focused on the palace's fury, Spencer's insistence that he is right, Harry's security, the book's publication and Piers Morgan's legal threat.
- “Is he furious or is he embarrassed? Because I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said.”
- “There are times when the royal family feels like a soap opera.”
5's bulletins were shorter and focused on the rarity of the palace statement, Spencer doubling down, Harry's first public appearance, and later the claim that the late Queen considered restoring Diana's HRH title.
- “It's rare for the royal household to make statements to the media”
- “Earl Spencer has doubled down on his claims about King Charles's response to the death of his sister Princess Diana”
GB News was openly sceptical of Earl Spencer's claims and gave space to panellists who questioned his motives. It pushed the theory that Spencer was working with Harry and Meghan to damage the King, and highlighted the front pages.
- “I don't believe a word of it.”
- “He's not only selling a book, but he's also undoubtedly formed an alliance with Harry and with the Duchess to somehow damage the king.”
BBC TWO's Newsnight and Politics Live treated the row as a damaging family and constitutional distraction. Newsnight used former palace press secretary Dickie Arbiter to dispute Spencer's account, while Politics Live's panel called the public feud tawdry and discussed Harry's security.
- “It's not in his character. It's not his speak. He doesn't think like that.”
- “I found them quite tawdry, to be honest with you.”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 04:31 BST
Robert Jobson, royal editor at the Evening Standard
“Robert Jobson, royal editor at the Evening Standard”
The Media Show · Sat 26 Sept
- 13:20 BST
- 18:44 BST
- 18:46 BST
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.