Topic Lifecycle: Dormant
This topic is currently dormant in the news cycle. It was last covered on Saturday 26 September 2026 and has not appeared in recent broadcasts.
Coverage trend (last 30 days)
How much coverage this topic got from each channel over the past month.
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.
Recent stories
The latest story timelines linked to this topic, newest activity first.
What was reported
A plain summary of this topic, built from the channels that covered it.
Sky News and 5 both reported that Piers Morgan said he would continue legal action against Earl Spencer over claims in Earl Spencer's new book about Princess Diana, despite an apology from Earl Spencer. The channels reported that Earl Spencer had acknowledged an error in the book concerning Morgan's role at the Daily Mirror when intrusive photographs of Diana were published. 5 reported that Morgan was working at the Sun at the time and did not join the Mirror group until two years later. Both channels reported that Morgan disputed Earl Spencer's account of a phone call in which Morgan was uninvited from Diana's funeral, and that Morgan questioned Earl Spencer's account of a conversation with then Prince Charles about Diana's death. 5 reported that Earl Spencer said he stood by his memoir and that he had acknowledged a small error that would be corrected in the second edition. Sky News reported that Earl Spencer's spokesperson had nothing further to add and that publisher Penguin had not responded to a question about pulping existing copies. 5 reported that Morgan said he was not seeking damages for himself and that any damages would go to the King's Trust, and that he wanted the first edition pulped.
Key Claims by Channel
| Claim | Channel 5 | Sky News |
|---|---|---|
| Piers Morgan continued legal action over a defamatory and untrue claim in Earl Spencer's Diana book despite an apology, sought its removal from sale, and said any damages would go to the King's Trust rather than himself, with damages to increase while the book remained on sale. | ||
| Earl Spencer acknowledged an error in his book over claiming Piers Morgan edited the Daily Mirror when intrusive Diana gym photographs were published by the Mirror Group in 1993, described the error as small, and said it would be corrected in the second edition, while Morgan said he had nothing to do with the story, was then at the Sun, and did not join the Mirror group until October 1995, after the story had been published and settled. | ||
| Earl Spencer said he stood by his new memoir about Princess Diana. | · | |
| A spokesperson for Earl Spencer said there was nothing further to add to his apology after Piers Morgan's accusations. | · | |
| Publisher Penguin was asked whether it planned to pulp existing copies of the book and had not responded. | · | |
| Piers Morgan disputed Earl Spencer's account of a phone call about his uninvitation from Princess Diana's funeral after being formally invited by the Lord Chamberlain's Office, denied being rude on the call, and cited a contemporaneous note and his 2005 book as evidence he was respectful. | ||
| Piers Morgan questioned Earl Spencer's credibility over Spencer's claim that Prince Charles was giddy with excitement like a lottery winner after Diana's death. | ||
| Piers Morgan said the Mirror paid over one million pounds to Diana, which he described as the biggest media payout to a member of the royal family. | · | |
| Piers Morgan said he had a good relationship with Diana in the last couple of years of her life, including a lunch at Kensington Palace with her and Prince William and regular phone calls. | · | |
| Piers Morgan said he was astonished the error passed fact-checking and questioned the credibility of the rest of the book. | · |
This is a cross-channel consensus summary, not an objective account. Consensus can be uniformly wrong, or omit what only one channel covered.
Timeline
Where this topic appeared. Cells show coverage time and are darker when there was more coverage.
| Date | Channel 5 | BBC News | BBC One | BBC Two | Channel 4 | GB News | ITV | Sky News |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saturday 26 September 2026 | — | 6m 31s 5.3% | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wednesday 23 September 2026 | 7m 27s 20.6% | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2m 20s 2.0% |
| Tuesday 22 September 2026 | 15s 0.7% | — | 3m 3s 3.0% | — | — | — | — | — |
| Monday 29 June 2026 | 5m 31s 16.3% | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |