What's in the new bombshell book by Charles of Spencer, Princess Diana's brother?

The Earl of Spencer, the late Princess Diana’s brother, has written a book - his eighth book, in fact. This new edition penned by the British aristocrat is listed in the Financial Times’ list of ‘what to read in 2024’, one of the 'best' picks for this year by The Independent, and suggested as an anticipated memoir by the BBC. Even before its release, the memoir was already making headlines for the revelations it contains...

Charles Spencer’s 2024 book is called 'A Very Private School: A Memoir’, published in March. It revolves around his experiences and childhood days at Maidwell Hall in Northampton, a private prep school where he was sent.

Gallery books describe the book: “In this poignant memoir, Charles Spencer, recounts the trauma of being sent away from home at age eight to attend boarding school.”

Focusing on ‘a culture of cruelty’ and the feeling of homesickness when he was at the boarding school, the memoir recounts the Earl’s memories, as well as draws on the letters and diaries he himself wrote at the time.

Spencer “provides important insights into an antiquated boarding system”, as described in the book’s synopsis and explains how the trauma of his childhood hasn’t left him over time. The synopsis goes on to say there was a “long-lasting impact of his experiences”. (In the photo with his late sister, Lady Diana).

The effect of his childhood at the boarding school has not been a secret and the Earl has previously spoken out about the difficulties he encountered. Yet the school itself found this surprising and, according to the Daily Mail, he has possibly ‘exaggerated how bad his time there was’.

(In the photo with the late Queen Elizabeth and the Queen Mother)

'He's been in constant touch with the school ever since, so I don't think he could have been that unhappy,' Mr Paul, the school’s headmaster, said in 1992 to the publication.

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45 years later, the younger brother of Princess Diana says he has finally worked out his childhood being at the boarding school after ‘trying to crack the code by which it lived’. Tatler quotes an interview with the author, “Beyond my own experiences, I wanted to look at what, really, was going on in this strangely secretive place.”

“This book is a blend of chronicle and memoir that’s intended to stand as a piece of modern history – a record of a time, not so far back when things were quite different for children in these most privileged of English institutions,” Charles Spencer continued.

But the recollection of his days at boarding school is not the only revelation in this memoir. The Earl focuses on other elements of his childhood, with one memory particularly drawing the interest of the world’s press. As reported by The Sun who obtained a copy from the US, the book reveals he paid a s*(!) worker on a family holiday when he was 12 years old.

During a trip to Italy with his mother and step-father, he saw a street worker in a short skirt on a street corner. He used his pocket money to pay her around £15 for the privilege of some time with her. This experience left him feeling ‘hollow and cold’ and without the want to investigate intimate activities again until 17 years old.

This event was related to happenings at the boarding school where Spencer recounts abuse a year earlier from a matron at the school where manipulation took hold of him and other boys at the institution in the 1970s.

He says, “The effect of what she did to me was profound and immediate, awaking in me basic desires that had no place in one so young,” as The Sun reports, and says she played on the boys’s need for feminine warmth and attention.

The reviews for the book so far have been extremely positive, with Waterstones saying it deserves to be ‘an instant classic’. Louise de Bernieres related to the book who suggests he himself was
“subject to similar treatment, thousands of us who endured the same vile abuse in dozens of schools that were clones of each other,” and says the publication is ‘moving and beautifully written’.

Charles Spencer is the maternal uncle of William, the Prince of Wales and Harry, the Duke of Sussex. He has previously written books about his family history, as well as historical novels with great critical acclaim. ‘Blenheim: Battle for Europe’ was a Sunday Times bestseller, shortlisted for ‘History Book of the Year’ in 2005; ‘Prince Rupert: the Last Cavalier, Killers of the King' was a Sunday Times bestseller; and ‘To Catch A King was a London Times bestseller’.

The Earl of Spencer gained an MA in modern history from Oxford University before he worked at NBC News in the 1980s. His time on TV also saw him on the TODAY Show, presenting for the History Channel and recently in the BBC4 three part series ‘Charles I: Downfall of a King’.

Taking his books one step further, his sixth book ‘To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape’, is set to be adapted for the screen as the rights to the books were bought for adaptation. The Earl himself confirmed this on Twitter (now X) saying he was “really excited to see my book To Catch A King being brought to life.”

Perhaps the release of this memoir may not be quite as ground-breaking and revealing towards the royal family as Harry’s ‘Spare’, but it certainly seems to be giving exposure to the trauma and negatives being brought up in a privileged home. Worth a read? We think so.

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