Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer warns children as young as eight ... trends now
Princess Diana's brother Charles Spencer has warned children as young as eight should never go to boarding school after he was 'sexually abused' at one as a boy.
The school he attended in the 1970s, Maidwell Hall, has now reported itself to the council following the claims he has made in his powerful memoir which was published exclusively in The Mail on Sunday.
Due to be published on Thursday, the book A Very Private School reveals how he was molested by a female assistant matron at the prep school in Northamptonshire.
The 59-year-old described how the 'voracious paedophile' – preyed on him and other young boys, grooming and then abusing them in their dormitory beds at night.
The book also details how John Porch, the 'terrifying and sadistic' headteacher of the exclusive prep school, inflicted brutal beatings, seemingly gaining sexual pleasure from the violence.
Charles Spencer has warned children as young as eight should never go to boarding school after he was 'sexually abused' at one as a boy
He said he does not agree with sending children as young as eight to boarding school on Lorraine Kelly's show this morning
A young Earl Spencer, three, is pictured with his sister, Diana, in 1967 before he was sent to boarding school
Following his harrowing experience at the school when he arrived aged eight, Earl Spencer has now called on children that young to never be sent to boarding school.
Speaking on Lorraine Kelly's show this morning, he said: 'When I went for my first night at this school I had never stayed away from home without a family member and the horror of it – I had nightmares for six months before going because I couldn't aged seven and then eight get it into my head that this was going to be the case.
'But being sent at seven or eight is terrible and I remember there was one boy who went when I was there and he was looking for his parents the first day.
'They hadn't told him they were going to leave him at the school. So he thought he was going on a trip with his parents and then he started looking for them but they had gone. They had gone home and he wasn't going to see them for five weeks.
'I think being sent away at a very delicate age such as seven or eight is really – I don't support that at all.
'I have seven children and two of them have chosen to go to boarding school in their mid-teens. And that is fine - their decision. And if they decided it wasn't for them, they knew there was an exit plan.'
Earl Spencer also believes due to his young age, he was less likely to report the abuse to an adult once it started.
Excerpts from Charles Spencer's new memoir have been published exclusively by the Mail
Earl Spencer with Princess Diana. The torment he endured during his five years at Maidwell Hall led to him deliberately making himself sick – a shocking precursor to Diana's later struggles with bulimia
He told Lorraine Kelly's show this morning about the abuse he faced during his childhood
He said: 'I think kids at that age, no matter their background, have no context for their life, they just think this is what their parents expect and this is the framework they have been
