The rapid rise of Piers Morgan

The Mirror has infuriated the Royals in the past

The row over Mirror editor Piers Morgan's timely share purchase is just the latest controversy in a dizzyingly successful newspaper career.

And this for a man still in his early 30s.

He attended boarding school but moved to the local comprehensive because the fees were too high.

After school he studied journalism at Harlow College and worked for local south London newspapers before being spotted by then Sun editor, Kelvin MacKenzie.

He was given his own showbiz column, Bizarre, where he published pictures of himself with the rich and famous.

Piers Morgan: a rapid career rise in papers

In January 1994 he was just 28 when he became editor of the News of the World.

In November of the following year, he became the youngest national daily newspaper editor when he moved to The Mirror.

He speaks strongly against a privacy law and defended his decision to pay for the story of Lucille McLaughlin, one of the nurses convicted in Saudi Arabia for the murder of Yvonne Gilford.

He caused a Royal row in November 1998 by publishing a story saying Prince Harry had hurt himself, under the headline, "Harry's had an accident but we're not allowed to tell you".

He published that story, despite coming under pressure from Royal press secretaries to drop it.

The front page that so infuriated Prince Charles

He refused to apologise for his actions - unsurprising as he is not worried about offending the Royal family.

Piers Morgan is used to controversy. He caused outrage in 1995 with his headline Achtung Surrender! the day before an England and Germany football match.

He came under pressure when the Daily Mail overtook the Mirror's circulation, and the Sun increased its lead to 1.3m.

But he defends the newspaper on business grounds - the Mirror makes an estimated £1m profit per week.

His current strategy is to attract women aged 25 to 35, hypothetically "a 28-year-old assistant Boots manageress", with a magazine supplement entitled M.

The editor has written several showbiz books including Take That: Our Story in 1993.

He enjoys cricket and supports Arsenal football club.