Charles Spencer was a round-cheeked, redheaded, curious child brimming with so much energy that his mother, Frances Shand Kydd, gave him a distinctive nickname. “I was such a happy little effervescent guy,” says Spencer, 59. “My mother would call me Buzz, like a little bee buzzing around.”
But everything would change for young Buzz at age 8, when he was sent to live at an elite English boarding school, Maidwell Hall. The heir to the aristocratic Spencer family estate—his father was John, 8th Earl Spencer—he enjoyed a privileged childhood alongside his older sisters Sarah, Jane and, of course, Diana, who would go on to marry Prince Charles in 1981. But nearly a decade before that historic day, Spencer’s world was turned upside down with his entry into the cold, cruel halls of Maidwell. In his candid new memoir A Very Private School, Spencer confronts the childhood trauma of his harrowing five years at an institution that left its young students vulnerable to predatory adults. It was a difficult book to write, plunging Spencer—who reveals for the first time that he was the victim of physical, verbal and sexual abuse at the school—into a painful past. “I had always felt that I had dealt with this chapter of my life and had put it to bed,” he says. “But talking to classmates and hearing their experiences was very triggering for me. I’d be very struck by the horror of what they had shared. And that was the hardest bit.”
Esta historia es de la edición March 25, 2024 de People US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición March 25, 2024 de People US.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 8500 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
Why I Dropped Everything for My Dad
WHEN THE POLICE ACADEMY STAR'S FATHER GOT SICK, HE TRAINED TO BE A DIALYSIS TECH SO HE COULD TREAT HIM AT HOME: 'HE WAS MY HERO'
A Late Legend's New Novel
When author and film director Michael Crichton died of cancer in 2008 at age 66, his pregnant widow, Sherri, just wanted to sit in his writing room, surrounded by the work that was so central to his life.
MY Life Now
THE FORMER INMATE AND VICTIM OF MUNCHAUSEN SYNDROME BY PROXY ENJOYS FREEDOM AND A NEW LOVE
A HOLLYWOOD STORY
THE TV AND SCREEN VETERAN DETAILS HIS FAMED FAMILY'S HISTORYAND TRAGEDY-IN A NEW MEMOIR
'Find What Fascinates You'
AFTER SCORING EVERY MAJOR ACTING PRIZE, THE LEGENDARY STAR ISN'T DONE RISING TO NEW CHALLENGES
MARLON WAYANS - Crying, Laughing Through Grief
AFTER THE DEVASTATING LOSS OF HIS PARENTS, THE COMEDIAN IS USING HUMOR TO LIGHTEN THE LOAD
The Latest in Brad & Angelina's Court Battle
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's ongoing legal battle over French winery Château Miraval continues to be a case of very sour grapes.
Sixteen Candles' Gedde Watanabe Looks Back
When director John Hughes cast Gedde Watanabe as foreign exchange student Long Duk Dong alongside Molly Ringwald (right) in Sixteen Candles 40 years ago, he had no idea the actor-who was born and raised in Utahwas faking his heavy accent.
Riley Keough's Latest Move to Protect Graceland
When Riley Keough stepped out on May 24 to fete her grandmother Priscilla Presley on her 79th birthday, she was also celebrating a legal victory.
'How Did She Disappear'
NPR host Tonya Mosley got a call and learned she had a sister—who was missing in Detroit. She and her nephew set out to get answers and found healing along the way