Charles Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana, is divorcing his wife Karen Gordon after 13 years of marriage.
The 9th Earl Spencer announced his separation from the Countess of Spencer at mail on sunday on June 8. According to the outlet, their relationship became strained when he wrote his memoir, in which he revealed that he suffered physical and sexual abuse when he was a student at an elite boarding school.
“It's immensely sad,” Spencer said. mail on sunday. “I just want to dedicate myself to all my children and grandchildren, and I wish Karen all the happiness in the future.”
The couple reportedly announced their divorce to staff at Althorp House, the Spencer family estate and Princess Diana's childhood home in Northamptonshire, England, in March.
Spencer married Gordon, a Canadian philanthropist, in June 2011 after meeting on a blind date at a Los Angeles restaurant the previous year. They were married in the grounds of Althorp House, where Princess Diana is buried.
Gordon is the founder of Whole Child International, a US-based non-governmental organization working to improve the quality of care for vulnerable children. She was previously married to Mark Gordon, a Hollywood producer whose film and television credits include Saving Private Ryan, Speed, Grey's Anatomy, and Criminal minds – from 1997 to 2003. Gorden shares two daughters with her first husband, as well as her 12-year-old daughter Charlotte Diana with Spencer.
Meanwhile, Spencer has four children with his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, and two children with his second wife, Caroline Freud.
He mail on sunday reported that the royal, 60, “has recently become close” to Norwegian archaeologist Cat Jarman. Along with the Rev. Richard Coles, Jarman and Spencer co-host the history podcast, The Rabbit Hole Detectives. Friends told the outlet that the couple “seems very happy together,” but “it's early.”
In his memoirs published in March, titled A very private schoolSpencer spoke out about the physical and sexual abuse he was subjected to in the 1970s. As a child at Maidwell Hall, one of Britain's best independent schools for children aged 4 to 13, Spencer was allegedly abused by a assistant midwife, an experience she recalled as “incredibly traumatizing”.
Spencer, who entered the school when he was eight, said he was beaten to the point of drawing blood and witnessed punishments that included “cutting his buttocks.” [of young children] several times with a cane and moving on.”
Other former students he interviewed revealed that they had been raped multiple times at school, while some had lost their siblings through “self-neglect.” A terminally ill man stipulated in his living will that he refuse to see his parents because he could not forgive them for his experience.
“It killed a part of me; He killed the nicest part of me. To survive in that environment, a small but important part of us had to die. I think that's the essence of it,” Spencer said. The times in March. “Sensitivity, empathy, those kinds of things have to suffer, because otherwise it's too raw. You can choose to make the most of it, which I think is admirable if you can do it, but the damage is still within.”
Maidwell Hall School said The independent in a statement: “It is sobering to read about the experiences Charles Spencer and some of his fellow alumni had at the school, and we are sorry that that was their experience. It is difficult to read about practices that, unfortunately, were sometimes considered normal and acceptable at that time. In education today, almost every facet of school life has evolved significantly since the 1970s. At the heart of the changes is the protection of children and the promotion of their well-being.
“We have been dismayed to read about allegations of abuse that Charles Spencer suffered at the hands of a matronly assistant in the 1970s. Although we have not directly received any complaints from former students, considering what was reported, the school followed the legal process and carried out a referral to the LADO (Local Authority Designated Officer). “We encourage anyone with similar experiences to come forward and contact Maidwell Hall, LADO or the police.”
Elsewhere in her memoir, Spencer reflected on her previous divorces and revealed that she sought professional help to understand the patterns of her relationships. “Looking at the remains of my first and second marriages, I learned early in therapy that being sent to boarding school at eight years old meant I had almost no understanding of intimacy,” she wrote, according to an excerpt obtained by People.
In an interview with the outlet, Spencer praised his wife Karen for supporting him during the difficult process of writing his book.
“Karen has supported me,” he said. People. “I think it was very challenging for her to have a husband who went through what was essentially four and a half years of the most in-depth therapy with very difficult nuances. And she supported the idea of me doing it.”
“I think she always hoped I would come out happier and healthier,” Spencer continued. “And that seems to be largely the case. So I am grateful to have her by my side as she went through this, which I now realize was an essential process.”
