Piers Morgan is no stranger to royal controversies. Everyone is aware of his fiery takes on Meghan Markle or his long-standing criticisms of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
Now, the former Good Morning Britain host, who has often stirred headlines with his bold claims, turned his attention to the most beloved royal figure, someone he once had a much closer relationship with. Yes, we are talking about Princess Diana.
princess diana and her custom pearl catherine walker gown: originally made for the princess for a trip to hong kong, but diana loved the gown so much she wore it to both the 1989 british fashion awards and to budapest in 1990 pic.twitter.com/I2LdFuh6k9
— corinne ☆ (@MIUCClAMUSE) September 8, 2022
Appearing on the Him & Her Show podcast, Morgan opened up about his interactions with the late Princess of Wales during his time as editor of News of the World in the 1990s. His legacy in tabloid journalism has often been criticized.
Things took a drastic turn especially after Prince Harry accused him of knowing about and covering up illegal targeting of Diana. However, Morgan painted a very different picture of his working relationship with the beloved Princess.
“I used to have lunch with Diana, I used to talk to her on the phone quite regularly,” he said, describing her as “mesmerizing,” “incredibly charming, very smart, very funny.” According to Morgan, Diana was far more than a passive subject of media coverage, she was an active participant.
In a surprising revelation, Morgan claimed that he would send her stories before publication, and she would mark them up and fax them back with edits. “I used to send her stories that we were going to run and she would edit them and fax them back,” he said.
Of course, that doesn’t mean Diana wasn’t often on the receiving end of invasive and unethical tabloid attention. Morgan acknowledged as much, “That’s not to say that there wasn’t lots of intrusion into her life. There was. It’s not to say that some of that wasn’t unwarranted. It was.”
Yet, he insisted Diana knew how to play the game. “But did Diana manipulate the media ruthlessly when she wanted to? Absolutely,” Morgan added, claiming the princess had a keen awareness of the media’s power and used it to her advantage when needed.
Today August 31, 1997 #PrincessDiana passed away.
She was 36 when she died and would have been 59 if she were still alive. Such a beautiful unique person. This documentary is a good one to watch if you are interested in her story. #DianaInHerOwnWords RIP #QueenofPeoplesHearts 🌹 pic.twitter.com/gbI6rUt9Ig— Gina Carano 🕯 (@ginacarano) August 31, 2020
Calling her “very sharp,” Morgan recalled a moment when he chose not to publish a story involving her son Prince William. He had received a tip about a marijuana-themed poster allegedly hanging on William’s wall at Eton. According to him, Diana appreciated the restraint and using it as an opportunity to show that there were limits to what the media should report. “She wanted to prove there was a line,” Morgan said.
It’s no secret that Diana was very much engaged with the press throughout her public life. She was both a media darling and a media victim. Her tragic death in a Paris car crash in 1997,while fleeing paparazzi, of course brings out the fact that the press had an intense and dangerous obsession with her.
Princess Diana’s death was not an accident. 💔 pic.twitter.com/0fhy1YBD81
— Zandi Sussex (@ZandiSussex) May 2, 2025
Even so, Morgan didn’t shy away from suggesting that the relationship between the Royal Family and the press was symbiotic. “Diana worked the media exactly the same way the media worked Diana,” he said.
“I’m not after any gratitude,” he added. “But I do think in the scales of balance between the media and the Royal Family, the media has been as much a part of the longevity of the Royal Family when many other monarchies have disappeared through Europe. The media still fuel [the royals] and portray them as the biggest stars on the planet.”
Morgan’s comments have reignited the ongoing debate about how far is too far when it comes to the media’s relationship with the Royal Family?
