It only hit shelves yesterday, but the controversy surrounding the salacious tell-all penned by Princess Diana’s younger brother has reached a fever pitch.
The Initial Drama
The drama started earlier this month when four copies of Earl Charles Spencer’s new book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister were reportedly swiped off a truck bound for a distribution center in the Netherlands in what publishing sources told The Daily Mail was a “highly suspicious” theft.
The Mail then began publishing excerpts from the book–which purports to be the first time that the 9th Earl Spencer speaks “openly” and “at length” about his late sister ahead of the thirtieth anniversary of her death next year–that were so stunning they prompted a rare rebuke from Buckingham Palace.
The allegation that got the palace to respond involved what then-Prince Charles supposedly said about his ex-wife soon after her tragic 1997 death in a car crash in Paris at the age of 36. According to Spencer, he told the prince that Diana would not have wanted then-15-year-old Prince William and 12-year-old Prince Harry walking behind her casket during the funeral procession through the streets of London.
In response, Spencer claimed Charles told him: “Rest assured, we’ll forget her soon enough.” He also accused the monarch of having “contempt” for Diana and of sounding “elated” after her death.
The claim clearly did not sit well with the palace, which released a statement last week. “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 color memory in ways others do not recognize, even many years after such a loss,” it said.
Potential Legal Action
And now there are more questions about the veracity of Spencer’s recollections. Piers Morgan is threatening legal action over passages in the book that he alleges are inaccurate.
One of the alleged inaccuracies involves Spencer’s account of a call with Morgan about Princess Diana’s funeral. The earl claimed he called Morgan to tell him he was not welcome at the event and that the British tabloid editor-turned-broadcaster was “surly and annoyed” during the exchange.
According to Spencer’s telling, he disinvited Morgan because he was editor of the Daily Mirror when “highly intrusive” photographs of Diana exercising at a gym were published in November 1993. The problem? Morgan did not start working at Daily Mirror until 1995.
Morgan pointed out the “fabricated inaccuracies” on Piers Morgan Uncensored and said he had instructed his lawyers to demand the work be pulled from sale immediately. That prompted the earl to issue a statement attempting to clarify the error:
“Earl Spencer’s account of his conversation with Piers Morgan is accurate. Morgan was surly and annoyed when Earl Spencer called personally to tell him that he was not welcome at his sister’s funeral.
The book then records Earl Spencer’s assumption that Mr Morgan’s response was because he was editor of the Daily Mirror when the Mirror Group had published highly intrusive photographs of Princess Diana at the gym.
The photographs were published by the Sunday Mirror on 7 November 1993. Mr Morgan has pointed out that he did not join the Daily Mirror until October 1995. As an historian, accuracy is important to Earl Spencer. He therefore wishes to clarify that his assumption was incorrect. Earl Spencer apologises to Mr Morgan for this error.”
In response to Spencer’s statement, Morgan acknowledged the earl apologized “for his defamatory lies published in his new book,” but he made clear the issue was far from over. “I am pursuing legal action against him and his publisher Penguin to have the lies removed, and damages paid to the King’s Trust,” he added on X.
In a separate post, Morgan called Spencer’s characterization of the call “misleading” and wrote he was “neither surly nor annoyed, but instead, very respectful to him and his family.” He pointed to his own retelling of the story in his bestselling March 2005 book The Insider as evidence.
Second Edition Coming
While Morgan’s legal action remains to be seen, it does appear as though he is already getting some of what he asked for. The Times reported future editions of Swan Song will be edited to correct the error about Morgan’s employment history.
Morgan has argued that the fact that Spencer couldn’t bother to properly fact-check something as easily verifiable as dates in his CV should cast doubt on the entire book. “If Earl Spencer can be so incredibly defamatorily wrong about such basic facts involving me, well, why should we believe anything else that he puts in this book,” he wondered on Piers Morgan Uncensored.
That question came up during one of the first TV appearances of Spencer’s book tour. When asked about the Morgan controversy, the earl said he was “happy to acknowledge” that he “made a small error” and “it will be put right in the second edition.” The interviewer then asked what his message is to those who are now doubtful of other claims in the book. “Well, I stand by the book,” he replied.
Megyn’s Reporting
But can Spencer’s memory be believed? On Wednesday’s show, Megyn revealed her own sources allege the earl is known to change details of stories he tells depending on the audience and circumstances.
“We can also report to you here from The Megyn Kelly Show that we have spoken with a source who knows Earl Spencer, and this source has informed us that Earl Spencer has been long known to have a faulty memory when it comes to retelling the stories that he loves to tell,” she explained.
According to the source, each retelling will have new fabulous details and something will get enhanced or left out depending on the audience that he is in front of, the amount of time that has gone by, or his mood.
“Obviously, everybody tells the story a little differently each time you tell it, but to actually change basic facts about it is a different thing entirely,” Megyn noted. “And when you are talking about potentially defamatory statements, things that would embarrass someone or make them look bad, and then also you vary so much in the telling that you are no longer being truthful–which is what both the king and Piers Morgan are alleging happened here–now… you are in potential legal trouble.”
You can check out Megyn’s full analysis by tuning in to episode 1,404 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s The Megyn Kelly Channel (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.