The younger brother of Diana, Earl Spencer, Princess of Wales, disclosed that he experienced sexual abuse during his time at boarding school as a child.
In an excerpt from his memoir, published in the Mail on Sunday, Earl Spencer revealed that he was subjected to sexual abuse by a female staff member at Maidwell Hall in Northamptonshire during the 1970s.
Now 59 years old, he claims that the abuse began when he was just 11 years old. Maidwell Hall expressed that it was “sobering” to hear about Earl Spencer’s experiences and stated that allegations of sexual abuse had been reported to a “local authority designated officer.”
Earl Spencer attended Maidwell Hall from the ages of eight to 13. In his new book, “A Very Private School,” he alleges that a female staff member, whom he described as a “voracious paedophile,” groomed and sexually abused him and other young boys in their dormitory beds at night.
According to the Mail, Earl Spencer stated that he has discovered that the staff member in question either currently resides abroad or has passed away.
He further claimed that the former headmaster of the school, John Porch, administered “brutal beatings,” and Earl Spencer believed that the teacher derived “sexual pleasure from the violence.” Mr. Porch was reported to have passed away in January 2022, as per an obituary in his former college newsletter.
Earl Spencer expressed that revisiting his experiences at Maidwell had been an “absolutely hellish experience.”
In a statement Maidwell Hall said it was “sobering to read about the experiences Charles Spencer, and some of his fellow alumni, had at the school, and we are sorry that was their experience.”
“It is difficult to read about practices which were, sadly, sometimes believed to be normal and acceptable at that time. Within education today, almost every facet of school life has evolved significantly since the 1970s. At the heart of the changes is the safeguarding of children, and promotion of their welfare.
“Although we have not directly received any claims from ex-pupils, considering what has been reported, the school has followed the statutory process and made a referral to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO). We would encourage anyone with similar experiences to come forward and contact either Maidwell Hall, the LADO or the police.” It added.
Following his tenure at Maidwell, Earl Spencer enrolled at Eton College.