“a barbaric process”, the princess’s brother reveals having been the victim of physical and sexual abuse as a child

Lady Diana’s little brother breaks the silence. In his memoirs entitled At Very Private School, published this Tuesday March 12, Charles Spencer do some chilling revelations about his years spent at boarding school at Maidwell Hall, a private school located in Northamptonshire, north of London. He describes an unhealthy atmosphere and confides that he was the victim of physical and sexual violence during the 1970s, when he was a child.

As reported Peoplethe historian, who is now 59 years old, does not mince his words when talking about this experience “traumatic”. Arriving in this institution at the age of 8, he remembers having been several times “beaten” And “struck” by director Jack Porch, whom he accuses of behavior “openly sadistic” And “pervert”. “He liked to hurt boys […] The goal was to terrorize them as much as possible“he says. “The entire punishment process was ritualized and barbaric“.

Real “beatings”

Every day, after tea, Charles Spencer discusses, for example, the disappearance of“at least half a dozen boys” In “a dimly lit corridor”. One by one, they entered “the gloomy office” of Jack Porch, where he was “sitting, devoid of compassion, ready to inflict physical pain.” “The quiet fire in his eyes betraying his inner gratification…”he explains. “The prefect attended these nighttime beatings by standing in the shadows, behind the principal, his role being to write down on the school list who had been beaten, for what reason, on what day and how many times”he continues.

In his work, the uncle of princes William and Harry reveals having been violently punished for chatting with his comrades after curfew. “He beckoned us to come towards him by clicking a slipper in his right hand. Each in turn, we ended up on his knees and received slaps on the buttocks. He had hit me several times with a slipper before, during his after-tea rituals, but it was through my pants. The pajama bottoms offered no protection, and the pain was shockingly intense”he laments, also mentioning beatings with sticks, sometimes to the point of blood.

“I was used for sex”

Beyond this physical violence, Charles Spencer denounces psychological and sexual abuse from a school assistant “aged 19 or 20”while he was 11. “She would sit on the side of my bed. She was smiling, kind and talkative. […] In the harsh, masculine environment of this traditional boys’ boarding school, where I missed my mother terribly, this calculated display of feminine warmth was bound to attract, seduce and ensnare me.he admits.

“She seemed to have an unofficial hierarchy among her prey: we learned, during our secret conversations, thatevery quarter she chose one of us to share her bed and used him for sex”adds the ninth Earl Spencer, remembering having been classified in the second category of his victims: “those she touched intimately”. “The effect of what she did to me was profound and immediate, awakening in me fundamental desires that had no place in someone so young.”he regrets.

“Intensive therapy” to end the trauma

As Princess Diana’s brother recounts in his book, these attacks had long-lasting effects on him. Aged around forty, while he lives what he considers to be “one of the lowest points” throughout his life, he followed a program of “intensive therapy” focused on the treatment of childhood trauma.

“My second marriage followed the first in failure, leaving two more of my children in divorce. Feeling defeated, I decided to tackle what attracted unsuitable partners to me, and what attracted me to them, in order to put an end to this pattern.”he admits, before concluding: “I sought professional help, assuming something fixable was wrong with me”.

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Rights of women and children, violence, feminism, gender, discrimination, parenthood, education, psychology, health, couple, sexuality, social networks…. Joséphine loves deciphering all the social issues that drive our world…