In a post on the social‑media platform X, Morgan said Earl Spencer had apologized for "defamatory lies" printed in his book, but that he would still sue Spencer and Penguin to have the statements removed and to obtain damages for the King’s Trust.
Spencer’s apology concerned a mistake in the memoir that claimed Morgan was the editor of Britain’s Daily Mirror when the Mirror Group published photographs of Princess Diana at a gym in November 1993; Morgan did not become editor until 1995.
"Swan Song: Diana, My Sister" is a 384‑page memoir published today by Penguin in multiple English‑speaking markets and translated into 12 languages, offering Spencer’s perspective on Princess Diana’s life nearly three decades after her 1997 fatal car crash in Paris.
Morgan used the error to question the overall reliability of the memoir, telling his talk‑show audience on "Piers Morgan Uncensored" that if Spencer could be "incredibly, defamatorily wrong" about such a basic fact, readers should doubt the rest of the book’s content.
The memoir’s release followed the serialization of excerpts in the Daily Mail last week, which generated sensational headlines about alleged claims involving Diana’s ex‑husband, King Charles. Morgan’s legal move could result in a court‑ordered removal of the contested passages and monetary compensation directed to the King’s Trust, though no court date has been set.
Spencer’s public apology and Morgan’s decision to sue underscore the heightened sensitivity surrounding new publications about Diana and the potential legal ramifications of alleged inaccuracies.