Recently, Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer revealed that he had been abused while he was a student at the prestigious boarding school, Maidwell Hall. On June 10th, police in Northamptonshire launched an investigation into the allegation.
Charles Spencer, who’s known as the 9th Earl Spencer, is the younger brother of Princess Diana, and attended Maidwell Hall in the 1970s. The school is only a short trip from his and Diana’s childhood home where they grew up.
Princess Diana’s Brother, Charles, Was Victim of Physical, Mental, and Sexual Abuse
While he kept the abuse private for years, he finally revealed it all in March 2024 in his memoir “A Very Private School”. In the book, the claimed he was the victim of physical, mental, and sexual abuse at the hands of staff members. In total, Spencer spent 5 years attending the all-boys school.
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As you could imagine, writing this part of the book was challenging. Even though Spencer thought he had dealt with this part of his past, talking to old classmates for the book and hearing their similar experiences was very triggering for him.
Once the book came out, the school itself released a statement that it had reported itself to a LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer) to ensure everything is taken seriously and handled professionally, and urged anyone else who suffered similar abuse to reach out to either the school or the police. The school also apologized and mentioned that nearly every part of the school has changed and evolved significantly since the 1970s.
Charles Spencer and Wife, Karen, Split
If having to relive these difficult memories wasn’t enough for Charles Spencer, he also is fresh off of announcing his split from his wife of 13 years, Karen Spencer. Karen Spencer (nee Gordon) is a Canadian philanthropist and entrepreneur. The pair initially met on a blind date in Los Angeles in 2010, and got married in June 2011.
They went on to have a daughter together who was born in 2012. Both also had been married previously, and had children from these past relationships. While it was only announced in June that the two were planning to get a divorce, they had been separated since back in April.
In his announcement of the split, Charles Spencer said that it was immensely sad, and that he wants to devote himself to his children and grandchildren. He also wished Karen well.
Is A Divorce On The Brink For Charles and Karen Spencer?
Reports say he hired the same divorce lawyer (Fiona Shackleton) who King Charles enlisted the help of when he divorced Princess Diana back in 1996. She’s also worked with the likes of Prince Andrew and Paul McCartney on their divorces in the past.
If the pair do end up officially splitting, this will be Charles Spencer’s 3rd divorce. He split from his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, in 1997 after less than a decade of marriage. They had four children together.
After that, he married Caroline Freud in 2001 and the couple had two children, but they decided to call it quits in 2007, a few years before he ended up meeting Karen.
