Piers Morgan hits back at Earl Spencer over Harry and Meghan media claims

Piers Morgan has renewed his criticism of Earl Charles Spencer after the former Good Morning Britain presenter accused him of hypocrisy over comments about the media treatment of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

Spencer, the younger brother of Princess Diana, recently told the BBC that the way the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are covered by the press has disturbing similarities to the treatment his sister experienced.

Describing the coverage as a “cancerous influence” in Harry and Meghan’s lives, Spencer said people should take lessons from what happened to Diana.

His remarks came as he promotes his new memoir, Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, which contains a series of controversial claims about King Charles and events surrounding Diana’s death in 1997. The book is due to be published on September 22.

Spencer draws a parallel with Diana

During an interview with the BBC, Spencer was asked whether he believed Diana would recognise similarities between her own experience with the press and the scrutiny faced by Harry and Meghan.

“If you look at an article in a tabloid about Diana or… Harry and Meghan, you know, they can be really, really unpleasant,” he said.

Spencer added that people should learn from Diana’s experience, arguing that relentless criticism could have a damaging effect on anyone subjected to it.

“I’m not here to speak for Harry and Meghan, but for anyone who’s being destroyed in this way daily, it must be such a cancerous influence in their life,” he said.

He also said Diana had been “really brought low” by the criticism she received from the media and that he was saddened to see what he regarded as echoes of that treatment in coverage of the Sussexes.

Harry and Meghan stepped back from royal duties in 2020 and moved to the United States. They returned to the UK in August 2026, according to Reuters, after six years away from Britain. Both have repeatedly criticised the British media and have pursued legal action against British newspapers.

Piers Morgan responds with two-word verdict

Morgan has now turned his attention to Spencer’s comments, arguing that the earl’s criticism of the media sits uncomfortably alongside the way he has portrayed King Charles in his new memoir.

Writing on X, Morgan described Spencer’s position as “beyond parody”.

He pointed to what he sees as a contradiction between Spencer condemning the supposedly “malign, cancerous” treatment of Harry and Meghan while publishing a book that presents Charles in similarly damaging terms.

Morgan’s criticism comes against the backdrop of an increasingly public dispute between Spencer and the royal household over his recollections of the period immediately following Diana’s death.

The claims about King Charles

In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Spencer makes several serious allegations about his former brother-in-law.

Among them is his claim that the then-Prince Charles sounded “giddily elated” when he telephoned Spencer after Diana’s death in Paris on August 31, 1997.

Spencer alleges that, during a later conversation, Charles told him, “we’ll forget her soon enough.”

According to Spencer’s account, he was stunned by the remark and ended the conversation.

The claims have been disputed by Buckingham Palace. In a statement responding to the wider allegations, the palace said that “the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason”, affecting judgment and memory many years after the events. Spencer has rejected that explanation and continues to stand by his account.

The controversy has placed renewed attention on the events surrounding Diana’s death and the relationship between Spencer and the royal family.

Diana died aged 36 following a car crash in Paris in 1997. Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, were 15 and 12 respectively at the time.

Morgan has criticised Spencer before

Morgan’s latest comments are part of a broader criticism of Spencer’s decision to revisit his sister’s life and death in the new book.

The presenter previously referred to Spencer as “Earl Hypocrite”, pointing to a 1998 interview in which Spencer criticised the idea of people making money from the death of a family member.

At the time, Spencer said:

“People have lost track of this. Can you imagine anybody making a profit out of their brother or sister’s death? It’s so low it’s inconceivable. I don’t know anyone who would.”

He went on to insist that he would never profit from Diana’s death.

Those earlier remarks have since been brought back into the debate surrounding Swan Song, with critics arguing that the publication of the memoir conflicts with Spencer’s position in 1998.

Spencer, however, has presented the book as an attempt to tell Diana’s story from his perspective and to defend her legacy. When the project was announced, he said he wanted to speak on her behalf and portray her in a positive way.

A wider dispute over Diana’s legacy

The disagreement between Morgan and Spencer is unfolding as the earl’s memoir brings renewed attention to one of the most closely examined periods in modern royal history.

Spencer has said his account is based on his own memories of Diana and the events surrounding her death. The Palace has challenged elements of his recollection, while Spencer has maintained that he is telling the truth.

His comments about Harry and Meghan have now added another dimension to the controversy.

By drawing a comparison between the Sussexes’ media treatment and Diana’s experience, Spencer has placed the current debate over Harry and Meghan within the much older and deeply contested story of Diana’s relationship with the press.

Morgan, meanwhile, has focused on what he regards as an inconsistency between Spencer’s criticism of negative media coverage and the highly critical portrayal of Charles contained in his own book.

The competing claims remain part of a broader public argument over Diana’s legacy, the treatment of members of the royal family by the press, and how the events of 1997 should be remembered nearly three decades later.