Charles Spencer Shares a Childhood Photo of Princess Diana From Their Boarding School Days
Just weeks after revealing his sister's true experiences with boarding school as a child, Charles Spencer shared a nostalgic photo of himself and Princess Di, taken by their father.
Charles Spencer revealed to the public on March 17 that his late sister, Princess Diana, told their father that she never wanted to go to boarding school. In a BBC One interview, Spencer said that as a child, Diana told her father, "If you loved me, you wouldn't leave me here." While Spencer is not entirely opposed to boarding schools as a concept, he has emerged as an outspoken critic of abuse in boarding schools, citing his and Diana's own experiences as children, as well as countless others. In his memoir, A Very Private School.
Although Diana's pleas to evade boarding school did not sway her father, Spencer has not placed the blame on their parents. "They did their best, like 98 percent of parents do," he said and explained that they "did not know," about what had happened in the various boarding schools the siblings attended. According to Spencer, this was not an uncommon phenomenon among many children of their background in the era. "I found with all my friends none of them told their parents," he said.
Several weeks after sharing his experiences with BBC One, Spencer shared a photo of himself and Princess Diana as children on Instagram. The photo, captured on Spencer's first day of school, featured him and Diana, clad in matching red blazers, long wool socks, and hats. Because the majority of Spencer's book chronicles the childhood abuse suffered in private schools, he clarifies in the post that this was not one of those schools.
In the caption, Spencer writes: "My father took this photograph of me and my sister, Diana, just before he drove us to Silfield, a really lovely primary school in King’s Lynn, Norfolk," before reminiscing on the positive childhood memories he formed at the school, saying "The headmistress was Miss Jean Lowe, a warm and thoughtful lady who loved her boys and girls."
Although much of Princess Diana's legacy has been marked by her time as a royal and her early childhood struggles, fans of the late princess were pleasantly surprised to see a happy memory shared by her brother on their timeline, with many positive, supportive comments shared under Spencer's post.
