'I needed treatment for trauma after writing book' - Earl Spencer

Speaking to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Earl Spencer said he needed residential treatment to deal with trauma after writing his new book.

In his memoir he talks about the abuse he suffered when he was sent to boarding school at the age of eight.

The earl spoke to his friends and contemporaries, who he says had "locked" their memories away and found solace in sharing their stories with him.

Maidwell School said in a statement: "It is 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."

17 March 2024