Piers Morgan Revives Earl Spencer Controversy as 1998 Diana Interview Resurfaces

A resurfaced television interview from 1998 has placed Earl Charles Spencer at the center of a fresh debate over Princess Diana’s legacy, almost three decades after her death.

The renewed attention comes as Spencer prepares to publish Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, a memoir examining his relationship with Diana and his memories of the period surrounding her death. The book has already generated intense discussion because of Spencer’s claims about conversations involving King Charles following Diana’s death in 1997.

Among those reacting to the resurfaced footage is broadcaster Piers Morgan, who used the phrase “Earl Hypocrite” when criticizing what he described as a contradiction between Spencer’s earlier comments and his decision to publish the new memoir.

The controversy is particularly striking because the older interview contains a clear statement from Spencer about the idea of making money from Diana’s death.

The 1998 Interview That Has Returned to the Spotlight

In the interview, conducted roughly a year after Diana’s death, Spencer discussed the public fascination with his sister and the enormous media attention surrounding her life and death.

He argued that Diana should not simply be viewed as a public figure whose story could be commercially exploited. To Spencer, she was first and foremost his sister.

He also rejected the idea that he would personally profit from her death.

That statement has now become central to the latest online debate.

Piers hit out on X (Image: Getty)

The clip has circulated widely on social media as attention builds around Swan Song, which is due to be published in September 2026.

Critics of Spencer have pointed to the timing of the book and argued that his present-day decision to revisit deeply personal events appears difficult to reconcile with the position he expressed in 1998.

Others have argued that discussing family history in a memoir is not automatically equivalent to exploiting it for financial gain.

That distinction has become one of the central questions surrounding the controversy.

Why Piers Morgan's Reaction Has Drawn Attention

Morgan's response has added another layer to an already highly charged discussion.

After the old footage resurfaced, he described Spencer as “Earl Hypocrite”, drawing attention to the apparent contrast between Spencer's earlier declaration and the commercial publication of a new memoir about Diana.

The criticism is not simply about the existence of the book.

It is about whether Spencer's decision to publish detailed memories of Diana nearly 30 years after her death should be viewed as inconsistent with what he said publicly in 1998.

That is ultimately a matter of interpretation.

A memoir can involve publishing personal memories without necessarily proving that its author is exploiting the person being remembered. At the same time, the commercial nature of a major publishing project inevitably means questions about money, publicity and public interest can arise.

The resurfaced interview has therefore provided critics with a powerful piece of historical context.

What Has Changed Since Spencer's 1998 Comments?

The circumstances surrounding Spencer's new book are dramatically different from those of the late 1990s.

Diana's death remains one of the most examined events in modern British royal history. Her sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, are now adults with their own families and public roles, while King Charles is Britain's monarch.

Spencer, meanwhile, has continued to discuss aspects of his relationship with Diana and the aftermath of her death.

His forthcoming memoir is being presented as a personal account of his memories of his sister and the events surrounding the final period of her life.

According to reporting on the book, Spencer wanted to record his own recollections and perspective, particularly as the 30th anniversary of Diana's death approaches.

That context matters because the memoir is not simply a contemporary celebrity book. It revisits events from a period that continues to influence the British monarchy, the royal family, and public discussion of Diana's legacy.

The New King Charles Claims

The latest controversy intensified after reports from the memoir described an alleged conversation between Spencer and then-Prince Charles following Diana's death.

Spencer claims Charles made a deeply dismissive remark about Diana during an argument connected with arrangements for her funeral.

He has described the conversation as something that remained vividly in his memory for decades.

The claim has been strongly disputed by the Palace.

Buckingham Palace responded by saying that grief can affect judgment and memory, a statement widely interpreted as questioning Spencer's recollection without directly engaging with every detail of his account.

Spencer subsequently defended his version of events in a BBC interview, saying that he remained certain about what he remembered.

That creates an important distinction between the different elements of the story.

Spencer's memoir records his recollection of an alleged private conversation. The Palace has offered a different perspective on the reliability of that recollection. There is no public recording of the private conversation itself.

The Palace Response Has Added Another Layer

The unusually pointed nature of the Palace response has helped push the story beyond an ordinary memoir controversy.

Royal households generally avoid commenting extensively on the contents of books about members of the Royal Family. In this case, however, Buckingham Palace issued a statement referring to the possible effects of grief on memory and judgment.

That response has itself become part of the story.

For readers following the controversy, there are therefore several separate questions:

• What did Spencer say in his 1998 interview?
• What does he claim happened in the new memoir?
• What has Buckingham Palace disputed?
• What can be independently documented?
• And how should decades-old personal recollections be assessed?

Keeping those questions separate is important because not every claim surrounding the controversy has the same evidentiary status.

Why the Old Footage Matters Now

The renewed interest in the 1998 interview demonstrates how statements made decades ago can acquire new significance when circumstances change.

In 1998, Spencer was discussing the immediate aftermath of his sister's death. Today, the same comments are being examined alongside a forthcoming memoir that revisits that period.

That creates what appears to be a contradiction to some viewers.

Spencer's critics see his earlier statement about never profiting from Diana's death and his current publishing project as fundamentally difficult to reconcile.

His defenders could point to another interpretation: that recording family memories and publishing a personal account does not necessarily mean the author believes he is commercially exploiting the person at the center of the story.

The available evidence does not automatically resolve that disagreement.

Diana's Legacy Remains Commercially Powerful

There is another reason the story continues to attract attention.

Almost 30 years after Diana's death, public interest in her life remains enormous.

Books, documentaries, archival interviews, television programs and newspaper investigations continue to revisit her relationships, public role and relationship with the Royal Family.

That enduring interest means almost any new revelation connected to Diana can quickly become a major royal family controversy.

For publishers, broadcasters and media organizations, Diana remains an exceptionally recognizable historical figure. For members of her family, however, the same events involve deeply personal memories.

That tension sits at the heart of Spencer's memoir.

A Debate About Memory, Money and Public History

The latest controversy is therefore larger than Piers Morgan's nickname.

It raises a broader question about how private family experiences become public history.

When someone writes a memoir decades after a major event, personal memories can become part of the historical record. But memories are also inherently subjective, particularly when they involve grief, family conflict and events that occurred many years ago.

That is especially relevant in this case because Spencer's account has been challenged by the Palace.

The debate over his 1998 comments adds another dimension: whether a person can publicly reject the idea of profiting from a relative's death and later publish a commercially successful book containing personal memories of that same relative without necessarily contradicting the original principle.

There is no single factual answer to that broader question.

Instead, it depends partly on what someone means by “profiting” and whether the commercial publication of personal memories is considered inherently exploitative.

The Timing Could Hardly Be More Significant

Spencer's memoir arrives as attention turns toward the 30th anniversary of Diana's death.

That timing ensures that interest in her life is likely to remain substantial.

The book is scheduled for worldwide publication on September 22, 2026, and reporting has already focused heavily on its claims about Diana, Charles and the events following Diana's death.

As excerpts continue to emerge, more of Spencer's recollections are likely to be examined against the public record.

The resurfaced 1998 footage has effectively become part of that examination.

What Is Known — and What Remains Disputed?

Several facts can be separated from the competing interpretations.

Spencer did give a televised interview in 1998 in which he rejected the idea of profiting from Diana's death. The footage has resurfaced as his new memoir attracts attention.

He is now publishing Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, a book centered on his memories of Diana and the period surrounding her death.

The memoir contains claims about a private conversation with King Charles after Diana's death.

Buckingham Palace has challenged the reliability of Spencer's recollection, while Spencer has publicly maintained that his memory of the conversation is accurate.

Piers Morgan has criticized Spencer and referred to him as “Earl Hypocrite.”

What remains unresolved is the larger question of whether Spencer's current memoir represents the kind of financial exploitation he rejected in 1998.

That is an interpretation rather than an established fact.

The Diana Story Enters Another Chapter

Few stories connected with the modern monarchy have demonstrated the longevity of Diana's public legacy more clearly.

Her death transformed the Royal Family, changed the relationship between the monarchy and the media, and left behind a vast archive of interviews, photographs, documentaries and personal recollections.

Now, nearly three decades later, her brother's memoir is bringing some of those unresolved memories back into public discussion.

The resurfacing of the 1998 interview makes the controversy even more compelling because it allows audiences to compare Spencer's earlier public position with the way he is discussing Diana today.

Whether readers see that as a contradiction, a change in circumstances, or simply a different way of preserving family history will remain a matter of debate.

But with Swan Song arriving amid renewed interest in Diana's life, the argument over memory, money, family loyalty and royal history is unlikely to disappear quickly.