Police investigate abuse at Earl Spencer's school

Police have launched an investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at a school attended by Earl Spencer.

Princess Diana's brother claimed in his memoir published earlier this year that he had suffered physical and sexual abuse at the independent Maidwell Hall School in Northamptonshire in the 1970s.

He attended the school, in Maidwell, from the ages of eight to 13.

Northamptonshire Police said it was "in the early stages of investigating a number of non-recent allegations".

Earl Spencer told the BBC he suffered "migraines and nightmares, and was seriously troubled writing this book".

He revealed he had been through therapy and that "all roads kept leading back to this boarding school".

Earl Spencer said talking about the abuse was "very tough... and emotionally exhausting".

In a statement when the book was launched, 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".

Northamptonshire Police said it had "conducted preliminary inquiries into allegations of abuse that are said to have taken place in the 1970s at Maidwell Hall School earlier in the year".

The force said it "takes all allegations of abuse very seriously and, where reports are made to us, we will pursue all available lines of inquiry to help bring perpetrators to justice".

It encouraged anyone "who has suffered abuse anywhere in our county, at any time, to contact us".

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