Diana's brother Earl Spencer reveals shocking sexual abuse and beatings at £32k a year private school in new memoir

9 March 2024, 19:42 | Updated: 9 March 2024, 19:46

Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer has revealed details of sickening sexual abuse subjected to him by a school matron at the age of 11.
Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer has revealed details of sickening sexual abuse subjected to him by a school matron at the age of 11. Picture: Alamy/Getty

By Chay Quinn

Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer has revealed details of sickening sexual abuse he was subjected to by a school matron at the age of 11.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

In an extract from his memoir published exclusively in The Mail on Sunday, Earl Spencer, 59, described shocking sexual abuse and physical assaults he suffered at Maidwell Hall when he was a young boy.

He wrote that he was a victim of a "voracious paedophile" assistant matron at the school - as well as naming John Porch, the "sadistic" headteacher at the school brutally beat him and other students and seemed to gain sexual pleasure from it.

Read More: King Charles snubs Diana's brother on Coronation guest list - as Earl Spencer will not attend

The five-year ordeal led to Earl Spencer making himself deliberately sick to avoid the institution - a precursor to his sister Princess Diana battling bulimia.

Maidwell Hall
In an extract from his memoir published exclusively in The Mail on Sunday, Earl Spencer, 59, described shocking sexual abuse and physical assaults he suffered at Maidwell Hall when he was a young boy. Picture: Getty

The twice-divorced Earl Spencer wrote in his memoir that the emotional damage of the abuse likely impacted the demise of his first two marriages.

Maidwell Hall is where Earl Spencer attended between the ages of eight and 13 - and is just ten miles from the Spencer family seat of Althorp House where Diana is buried.

After his abuse, Earl Spencer recounted how he wanted "full sex from a too-early age" and lost his virginity to a Italian prostitute aged just 12.

Other revelations in the bombshell book excerpt include:

  • The female paedophile matron emotionally manipulated him and that he self-harmed with a penknife when she seemed to be leaving the school.
  • Latin master Henry Maude beat Spencer with the spikes of a cricket boot and knocked out another boy.
  • Maude was visibly aroused after picking boys for naked swimming sessions.
  • Spencer regularly considered shooting himself in the foot with his father's shotguns when faced with returning to the school after holidays.
  • He received therapy in his early forties which helped him understand the damage Maidwell caused him.

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

File photo of a Ukrainian soldier, with forces confirmed to be in a second Russian border region

'War must return where it came from': Ukraine forces 'active in second Russian border region', Zelenskyy confirms

Dismembered body of British scientist found in suitcase after vanishing in Columbia

Dismembered body of British scientist found in suitcase after vanishing in Colombia

Exclusive
Wes Streeting hopes booking a GP appointment will be easier by the next election

Wes Streeting unable to say when '8am scramble' for GP appointments will end despite earlier promises

Irmgard Furchner

Nazi 'Secretary of Evil' convicted for murders of 10,500 Holocaust victims dies aged 99

Rugby players tackling during game

Lowering height of rugby tackles linked to 45 per cent drop in head collisions, study finds

a biotech start-up has announced the animals had been brought back to life

Dire wolf extinct for 12,500 years 'brought back to life', scientists claim

Jack Grealish

Jack Grealish 'slapped in the face by Manchester United fan' in derby, as man charged with assault

A police cordon in Elm Street, South Moor, Stanley, County Durham, where a man was fatally shot.

Tributes paid to 'thoroughly decent’ dad, 60, shot dead through window in broad daylight in County Durham

Lady Victoria Hervey claims Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre's credibility 'destroyed' following hospital release

Lady Victoria Hervey claims Prince Andrew accuser Virginia Giuffre's credibility 'destroyed' following hospital release

China vows to 'fight to the end' as Trump threatens additional 50 per cent tariffs amid global market turmoil

China vows to 'fight to the end' as Trump escalates war with further 50 per cent tariffs amid global market turmoil

Couple holding hands

Campaigners 'deeply moved' by baby loss certificate scheme - as more than 100,000 issued since service started

Pregnancy

Diabetes during pregnancy linked to increased risk of disorders like autism and ADHD in children, study suggests

Just 3% of England’s local road network received any form of maintenance in the 2023/24 financial year, new analysis shows.

Only 3% of local road network received maintenance in the last year

Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed were rejected from entering Israel

Israel's decision to bar two MPs from entering country 'smacks of racism', claims MP

c

Baby girl makes history as first child in UK to be born from womb transplant

US-ISRAEL-POLITICS-DIPLOMACY-TRUMP-NETANYAHU

Trump says US will hold direct talks with Iran as he insists Tehran cannot get nuclear weapons