British police investigate allegations of sexual abuse at the school attended by Princess Diana’s brother

In his memoirs, published in March 2024, Charles Spencer describes the difficulties he experienced at the private boarding school Maidwell Hall, including allegations of being sexually abused and beaten. (Amanda Edwards/WireImage)

• British police said on Monday that an investigation had been launched into allegations made by Princess Diana’s younger brother that he suffered sexual abuse at the private boarding school he attended as a boy.
• In his memoirs published earlier this year, Charles Spencer described the difficulties he faced at Maidwell Hall. in the 1970s.
• Spencer, a godson of the late Queen Elizabeth II, is uncle of Princes William and Harry, Diana’s two children with King Charles III.

British police announced on Monday that an investigation had been launched into allegations made by Princess Diana’s younger brother that he committed sexual abuse at the private boarding school he attended in the 1970s.

In his memoirs published earlier this year, Charles Spencer described the difficulties he experienced at Maidwell Hall, claiming, among other things, that he was sexually abused and beaten.

Police in Northamptonshire, central England, confirmed they had launched a criminal investigation into “allegations of non-recent sexual abuse” at the school Spencer attended from the age of eight to 13.

“The move comes after the force conducted a preliminary investigation earlier this year into allegations of abuse that allegedly took place at Maidwell Hall school in the 1970s,” Northamptonshire Police said in a statement. The investigation is still at an “early stage”.

READ | Princess Catherine shares heartfelt letter ahead of Trooping the Colour 2024 rehearsal

In his memoirs A very private schoolSpencer, now 60, said the sexual abuse and beatings at school left him with lifelong “demons.”

After the book was released in March, the school said it was “very sobering” to read about Spencer and others’ experiences at the time.

“We are sorry that they had to go through this experience. It is difficult to read about practices that were unfortunately sometimes considered normal and acceptable at the time,” added Maidwell Hall.

Spencer described being abused by an assistant head nurse at the school when he was 11 years old.

In the foreword, he wrote that this chronicle of casual cruelty, sexual assault and other perversions from long ago was “at times an absolutely hellish experience.”

Spencer, a godson of the late Queen Elizabeth II, is the uncle of Princes William and Harry, both children of Diana and King Charles III.

The ninth Earl Spencer won worldwide acclaim for his emotional eulogy at Diana’s funeral in 1997, when his attack on the press for persecuting his sister sparked a wave of applause from the crowd outside Westminster Abbey.