The British Elite Is Haunted by Childhood Demons

Prior to being dispatched to a hellish Northamptonshire boarding school in the 1970s at the age of eight, Charles Spencer — brother of the late Princess Diana — was nicknamed Buzz by his frequently absent mother because he shared the same frenetic energy as a bee. Spencer’s memoir, A Very Private School, describes in horrifying detail how young Buzz’s joie de vivre was then snuffed out by physical and sexual abuse carried out by those entrusted with his care.

Spencer’s story is both desperately moving and profoundly helpful in comprehending the warped development of the British establishment over decades. Maidwell Hall boarding school says it’s “sorry” for what happened to Spencer and some of his contemporaries, adding that it was “difficult to read about practices which were, sadly, sometimes believed to be normal and acceptable at that time” and that safeguarding children is now a top priority.