Royals ‘spitting blood’ over Earl Spencer’s claims in book, says Piers Morgan

Piers Morgan has claimed the royal family are “spitting blood” over Earl Spencer’s memoir about Diana, Princess of Wales and that he wants to “destroy” the reputation of the King.Charles Spencer has made a raft of claims in Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which was published on Tuesday, including that the King said “we’ll forget her soon enough” after she died and sounded “giddily elated” in the wake of the fatal car crash.The earl also suggested Mr Morgan was responsible for publishing photographs, taken with hidden cameras, of Diana in a leotard working out at the gym, in the Daily Mirror newspaper in 1993.Morgan was working at The Sun at the time, and did not join the Mirror as its editor until 1995.Charles Spencer has made a raft of claims about the King in his book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister (Lesley Martin/PA)PA WireSpeaking on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, Mr Morgan said: “I know for a fact the royal family are spitting blood, they are furious about this.“Clearly, the quite deliberate attempt to destroy King Charles’s reputation.“I think he’s done a remarkable job after the death of his late, great mother and deserves all the accolades that have come his way.“For him to now be taken down by this pipsqueak, Earl Spencer, with a series of claims that can never be disproven factually because it’ll be his word against his word.”The earl has apologised to Mr Morgan over the photographs claim and said, as a historian, “accuracy is important” to him, but he stood by his account that Mr Morgan was “surly and annoyed” when he called the journalist to tell him he was not welcome at Diana’s funeral.Piers Morgan called the earl’s book an attempt to ‘destroy’ the King’s reputation (Ian West/PA)PA ArchiveMr Morgan strongly refuted this, saying: “When he called me, it was to uninvite me from the funeral. He says I was surly, annoyed, I was rude to him. Absolute nonsense. That is a bald-faced lie.“I was very respectful to Earl Spencer. I could not have been more respectful to him.“I pointed out I only accepted the invitation because I had specifically asked if his family approved. I said to him, ‘please extend my deepest condolences to your mother’ and he said he would do that and he thanked me.”Representatives for Earl Spencer and Buckingham Palace have been contacted for comment.Mr Morgan has called on Diana’s brother to pulp the remaining copies of his book and instructed his lawyers to demand the work be pulled from sale immediately.Copies of Earl Spencer’s book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister at Waterstones Piccadilly in London, as it goes on sale to the public for the first time (Aaron Chown/PA)PA WireMr Morgan doubled down on his threat of legal action, telling BBC Radio 4’s PM programme he had asked his lawyers to send a legal letter to both the earl and the book’s publishers.“The mere fact he has so speedily issued an apology should say it all…” Mr Morgan said.“You’re a self-proclaimed historian – remove it immediately. If that means you have to pulp your book, well that’s on you.”Mr Morgan also wrote on social media: “Earl Spencer has apologised to me for his defamatory lies published in his new book, Swan Song, published today.Read More“But I am pursuing legal action against him and his publisher Penguin to have the lies removed, and damages paid to the King’s Trust.”The statement on behalf of Earl Spencer read: “Earl Spencer’s account of his conversation with Piers Morgan is accurate.“Mr 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 November 7 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.”Piers Morgan with the then Prince of Wales at a Buckingham Palace reception for Charles’s 50th birthday in 1998 (John Stillwell/PA)PA ArchiveMr Morgan had earlier criticised the earl for “fabricated inaccuracies” and “examples of brazen falsity”.Speaking on his YouTube show Piers Morgan Uncensored, he added: “It’s all bullshit and very, very easy bullshit for me to prove it.“The photographs which he says that I published were printed by the Sunday Mirror on November 7 1993. I joined the Daily Mirror in October in 1995.“In fact, at the time of the gym pictures, I was doing a showbiz column on the Mirror’s arch-rival, The Sun. About as far removed from responsibility for the Mirror scoop as I could possibly have been.”Diana died in a car crash nearly 30 years ago (Stefan Rousseau/PA)PA ArchiveMorgan was the editor of the Mirror from 1995 to 2004.The pictures of Diana working out were taken by Bryce Taylor, the then-owner of LA Fitness in Isleworth, west London, who used a hi-tech camera hidden in a panel above the princess’s head to capture her astride an exercise machine wearing a leotard and cycling shorts.She launched legal action against Mr Taylor and Mirror Group Newspapers and they later settled out of court in 1995, with the princess’s legal costs met and a donation secured to charity.The photos were first published in the Sunday Mirror and then the Daily Mirror.