Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer

Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer (born 20 May 1964), styled Viscount Althorp between 1975 and 1992, is a British peer, author, journalist, and broadcaster. He is the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the maternal uncle of William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

Early life and education

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer

Charles Edward Maurice Spencer was born on 20 May 1964 in Marylebone, London, the youngest of five children of John Spencer (1924–1992) and Frances Roche (1936–2004; later Shand Kydd). Owing to his maternal family's close personal connection to the royal family, he was baptised in Westminster Abbey, with Queen Elizabeth II acting as one of his godmothers. He grew up with his three elder sisters, Sarah, Jane, and Diana, the latter of whom he was very close with. His infant brother, John, was born four years before him, but died ten hours after his birth, thus leaving Charles as the eventual heir to the earldom. Spencer was three years old when his parents' troubled marriage ended in divorce due to his mother's affair with Peter Shand Kydd. In 1975, Spencer became styled as Viscount Althorp when his father became Earl Spencer following the death of his paternal grandfather. He began his formal education at Silfield Private School in King's Lynn, Norfolk. From the age of eight, he was sent to the elite boy's private boarding school Maidwell Hall in Northamptonshire. He was educated subsequently at Eton College and then read Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford.

In his memoir A Very Private School, published in March 2024 at the age of 59, Spencer wrote about the vicious beatings, sexual abuse, "culture of cruelty", "hopelessness and abandonment" and a total absence of love he was subjected to at Maidwell Hall school, one of England's most prestigious boarding schools. Spencer recounts the trauma of being sent away from home at the age of just eight, how he was subjected to beatings to the point of drawing blood and states that he witnessed punishments including cutting naked "buttocks [of young children] several times with a cane and carrying on". During his research for the book former pupils he interviewed revealed that they had been raped multiple times at the school, while some had lost their siblings to self-neglect. One of Spencer's contemporaries, when terminally ill, stipulated a refusal to see his parents in his living will, as he could not forgive them for his experience at the school. In an extract, Spencer detailed the sexual assaults and beatings he experienced at Maidwell, saying the school "sewed demons into the linings of the souls" of the abuse victims. Spencer said that after writing the book, he sought help at a "residential treatment centre" due to the "trauma" that resurfaced during the writing process which caused a "breakdown". Spencer argues the brutalising effect of boarding schools on people who have come to power has been devastating for society. The boarding school Maidwell Hall has reported itself to the council following Spencer's accusations, and in June 2024, Northamptonshire Police announced they had begun an investigation.

Career

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer

Spencer worked as an on-air correspondent with NBC News from 1986 to 1995, primarily for the network's morning programme, Today, and NBC Nightly News. He wrote and presented the 12-part documentary series Great Houses of the World (1994–1995) for NBC Super Channel. He also worked as a reporter for Granada Television from 1991 to 1993.

Spencer has written several book reviews for The Guardian and The Independent on Sunday as well as feature stories for The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Sunday Telegraph and American publications such as Vanity Fair, Verandah and Nest.

Upon his father's death on 29 March 1992, 27-year-old Spencer succeeded as 9th Earl Spencer, 9th Viscount Althorp, 9th Viscount Spencer of Althorp, 9th Baron Spencer of Althorp, and 4th Viscount Althorp. He also inherited Althorp, the family's ancestral seat in Northamptonshire. Since 2009, he has restored Althorp, re-roofing it and restoring its entire exterior for the first time since the 1780s. He has also helped establish Althorp Living History, a handmade fine-furniture line reproducing pieces from the collection at Althorp. The Spencer family's wealth derived from their profitable sheep farming in the Tudor era.

On 31 August 1997, his older sister Diana died after a car crash in Paris and Spencer delivered the eulogy at her funeral service held at Westminster Abbey six days later. In his eulogy he rebuked both Britain's royal family and the press for their treatment of his sister. Spencer ruled out conspiracy theories concerning his sister's death, and called the alleged letter she wrote 10 months before her death in which she discussed her fears of a planned accident "just a bizarre coincidence rather than tied in with reality." Spencer received an apology from Tim Davie, the BBC's director general, in late 2020 for the unethical practices used by BBC staff to gain his sister's consent to be interviewed in November 1995 for the corporation's Panorama television programme. Former BBC chairman Michael Grade said a full inquiry should be conducted, which Davie has said will happen.

Spencer was a member of the House of Lords from 29 March 1992 (the day his father died and he inherited the peerage) until the House of Lords Act 1999 excluded most hereditary peers on 11 November 1999.

On several occasions, Spencer has been accused of refusing to allow his sister Diana to live in a cottage on the Althorp estate, despite her request at the height of her emotional difficulties. These allegations have repeatedly been proven to be untrue, as seen in an apology published by The Times in 2021, admitting that "having considered his sister's safety, and in line with police advice, the Earl offered the Princess of Wales a number of properties included Wormleighton Manor (in Warwickshire), the Spencer family's original ancestral home".

Diana was buried on an island in a lake on Spencer's ancestral estate, Althorp, where he built a garden temple memorial and a museum to her memory, displaying her wedding dress and other personal effects. The museum was opened to the public in 1998 with all profits going to Diana's Memorial Fund, also set up by Spencer; the museum has since closed. At this stage, Spencer began writing a series of books dealing with the estate itself and with his family history, beginning with an account of his ancestral home, Althorp: the Story of an English House, published in 1998.

In 2003, Spencer founded the Althorp Literary Festival. Speakers at the annual event have included the authors Bill Bryson, Helen Fielding, Antonia Fraser, and Boris Johnson. In 2004, he presented two documentaries for the History Channel on Blenheim: Battle for Europe.

Spencer was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Northamptonshire in November 2005; the Spencer family have had a long association with the county, the home of the family seat. Spencer is also a patron of the Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. In 2021, Spencer authored an audiovisual walking tour for St. James's Park about the execution of Charles I entitled Death of a King: The Path to Execution on the BARDEUM mobile app.

In 2023, he began presenting the podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives with Richard Coles and Cat Jarman, in which each of them is given an obscure topic and they then discuss their findings. In May 2025, Spencer joined the panel of ITV's Loose Men, a male version of the channel's Loose Women programme.

Personal life

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer

The Earl Spencer has seven children from three marriages.

On 16 September 1989, Spencer, then known by the courtesy title of Viscount Althorp, married Victoria Lockwood (born 20 April 1965). Spencer and Lockwood were divorced on 3 December 1997, with Diana's death occurring while the case was in progress. After the divorce, Spencer returned to the United Kingdom from Cape Town, South Africa, where Spencer and Lockwood had relocated their family in 1995 to avoid media attention. It was alleged that the earl had an extra-marital affair with a journalist early in the marriage. They have four children:

• Lady Kitty Eleanor Spencer (born 28 December 1990); married Michael Lewis in 2021. They have a daughter, Athena. • Lady Eliza Victoria Spencer (born 10 July 1992); engaged to Channing Millerd, a South African businessman in 2025. • Lady Katya "Amelia" Spencer (born 10 July 1992); married Greg Mallett, nephew of former South African national rugby coach Nick Mallett, in 2023. • Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp (born 14 March 1994); heir apparent to the earldom.

Spencer did not attend the weddings of his daughters Kitty and Amelia in 2021 and 2023, respectively, amid reports that his relationship with his elder children had "cooled".

On 15 December 2001, he married Caroline Freud (née Hutton; born 16 October 1966), former wife of businessman Matthew Freud. They separated in 2007 and later divorced. Justice Munby was the presiding judge. The Earl's barrister Nicholas Mostyn advised his client that the case could be heard in private, which Munby rejected. The Earl was upset at the final settlement and unsuccessfully sued Mostyn.

• The Hon. Edmund "Ned" Spencer (born 6 October 2003); DJ • Lady Lara Caroline Spencer (born 16 March 2006); college student

On 18 June 2011 at Althorp, Spencer married Karen Gordon (née Villeneuve; born 6 June 1972), a Canadian philanthropist, the founder and chief executive of Whole Child International, a charity based in Los Angeles that works to improve the lot of orphaned, abandoned, or abused children. They have a daughter:

• Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer (born 30 July 2012) named in honour of her aunt, Diana, Princess of Wales.

In June 2024, it was announced that the Earl and Countess had separated in April 2024 and planned to divorce. Lord Spencer is to be represented by Baroness Shackleton, who represented the then-Prince of Wales in his divorce from Spencer's sister Diana. It was reported at the same time that the Earl had become the partner to archaeologist Dr Cat Jarman, with whom he was co-hosting the podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives. The two met during an archaeological project at the Spencer family estate and Spencer has noted that their differing backgrounds, particularly Jarman's lack of connection to British social circles, has contributed positively to the relationship.

During the Spencers' divorce proceedings; in October 2024, Jarman filed a lawsuit against Lady Spencer, alleging that she had disclosed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Respondent filings state that Jarmin's husband, Tom Jarmin, had volunteered the MS information to the Countess, indicating that it was not a secret. The Countess and Jarmin settled the lawsuit via a Part 36 provision, which permits resolution with no admission of wrongdoing, in December 2025. The settlement assigns Jarmin £4,500 in damages, which, along with legal costs for both parties  —  estimated to exceed £2 million  —  is to be paid by the Earl, in compliance with the financial arrangements of his divorce arbitration. Their divorce was finalized in December 2025.

Books

Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer

• Althorp: The Story of an English House (1998). London: Viking ISBN 978-0-312-20833-2. • The Spencer Family (1999). London: Viking. US edition: The Spencers: a Personal History of an English Family (2000) ISBN 978-0-670-88323-3 & ISBN 978-0-312-26649-3. • Blenheim: Battle for Europe (2004). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson; paperback edition by Phoenix, 2005. ISBN 0-304-36704-4. This book was a Sunday Times best-seller, and was shortlisted for "History Book of the Year" at the 2005 National Book Awards. • Prince Rupert: The Last Cavalier (2007). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN 978-0-297-84610-9. • Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I (2014). London: Bloomsbury ISBN 978-1-408-85170-8. This book was a Sunday Times best-seller. • Impressions of Althorp: Thoughts on My Spencer Heritage (2015). Spencer 1508 Ltd ISBN 978-0-957-27150-0. • To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape (2017). London: William Collins ISBN 978-0-008-15366-3 • The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I's Dream (2020). London: William Collins ISBN 978-0-008-29682-7 • A Very Private School: A Memoir (2024). London: William Collins ISBN 978-0-008-66608-8 • The Rabbit Hole Book (2024). With: Richard Coles & Cat Jarman. London: Michael Joseph ISBN 978-0-241-68486-3