The Earl Spencer | |
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Born | Charles Edward Maurice Spencer 20 May 1964 London, England |
Education | Eton College |
Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
Spouses | Caroline Freud (m. 2001;div. 2009) |
Children | 7, including Lady Kitty, and Louis, Viscount Althorp |
Parent(s) | John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer Frances Shand Kydd |
Relatives |
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Family | Spencer |
Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, DL (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 is the maternal uncle of William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
Charles Edward Maurice Spencer was born in London on 20 May 1964, the eldest son of John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer (1924–1992; then styled during his father's lifetime by the courtesy title of Viscount Althorp), by his first wife Hon. Frances Roche (1936–2004; later Mrs Shand Kydd). Due 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, Lady Sarah, Lady Jane, and Lady Diana, the latter with whom he was very close. His elder brother Hon. John Spencer, born four years before him, had died in infancy hours after his birth, thus leaving Charles as the eventual heir to the Earldom. [1] In 1968 when he was three years old his parents' troubled marriage ended in divorce, and in 1975, on the death of his grandfather Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, Spencer became styled by the courtesy title Viscount Althorp when his father inherited the earldom. He began his formal education at Silfield Private School in King's Lynn, Norfolk, and moved to a preparatory boarding school in Maidwell when he was eight. Later in his memoirs he claimed that he was treated poorly at Maidwell Hall by staff members and sexually abused by a woman. [2] [3] He was educated subsequently at Eton College and then read Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. [4] [5]
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. [6] [7]
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. [8] 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." [9] 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. [10] He said a full inquiry should be conducted which Davie has said will happen. [11]
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. [12]
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. [13] 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, the Spencer family's original ancestral home". [14]
Diana was buried 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. 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. [15]
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. [16] In 2021, Spencer authored an audiovisual walking tour for St. James's Park about the execution of King Charles I entitled Death of a King: The Path to Execution on the BARDEUM mobile app. [17] 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 then they discuss their findings. [18]
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 November 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. The Earl has four children by Victoria Lockwood, three daughters and one son: [19]
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". [23]
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. They have two children: [24]
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. [24] They have one child together:
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Diana, Princess of Wales, was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of Charles III and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her activism and glamour made her an international icon, and earned her enduring popularity.
The Spencer family is an aristocratic family in the United Kingdom. From the 16th century, its members have held numerous titles, including the dukedom of Marlborough, the earldoms of Sunderland and Spencer, and the Churchill barony. Two prominent members of the family during the 20th century were Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales.
Althorp is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about 13,000 acres (5,300 ha). By road it is about 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of the county town of Northampton and about 75 miles (121 km) northwest of central London, situated between the villages of Great Brington and Harlestone. It has been held by the prominent aristocratic Spencer family for more than 500 years, and has been owned by Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer since 1992. It was also the home of Lady Diana Spencer from her parents' divorce until her marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales.
Earl Spencer is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain that was created on 1 November 1765, along with the title Viscount Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, for John Spencer, 1st Viscount Spencer. He was a member of the prominent Spencer family and a great-grandson of the 1st Duke of Marlborough. Previously, he had been created Viscount Spencer, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, and Baron Spencer of Althorp, of Althorp in the County of Northampton, on 3 April 1761.
Frances Ruth Shand Kydd was the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales. She was the maternal grandmother of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, respectively first and fifth in the line of succession to the British throne. Following her divorce from Viscount Althorp in 1969, and Diana's death in 1997, Shand Kydd devoted the final years of her life to Catholic charity work following her conversion to Catholicism.
Edward John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer,, styled Viscount Althorp until June 1975, was a British nobleman, military officer, and courtier. He was the father of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the maternal grandfather of William, Prince of Wales, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
Peter Shand Kydd was the stepfather of Diana, Princess of Wales, and an heir to the wallpaper fortune built by his father Norman Shand Kydd (1895–1962). His mother was Frances Madalein Foy. He was half-brother to champion amateur jockey William Shand Kydd (1937–2014), who was the husband of Christina Muriel Duncan, sister of Veronica Bingham, Countess of Lucan.
Albert Edward John Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer,, styled The Honourable Albert Spencer until 1910 and Viscount Althorp from 1910 to 1922, and known less formally as Jack Spencer, was a British peer. He was the paternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Louis Frederick John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, is a British aristocrat and eldest son and heir of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer. He is the nephew of Diana, Princess of Wales, the first wife of King Charles III, and the first cousin of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.
John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer was a British peer and politician.
Cynthia Ellinor Beatrix Spencer, Countess Spencer was a British peeress and the paternal grandmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Edmund Maurice Burke Roche, 4th Baron Fermoy was a British Conservative Party politician who held a title in the Peerage of Ireland. He was the maternal grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Lady Elizabeth Sarah Lavinia McCorquodale is one of the two older sisters of Diana, Princess of Wales, the other being Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes.
Raine Spencer, Countess Spencer was a British socialite and local politician. She was the daughter of Alexander McCorquodale and the romantic novelist and socialite Barbara Cartland and the stepmother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Karen Anne Spencer, Countess Spencer is a Canadian social entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of Whole Child International, a U.S.-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that works to improve the quality of care for vulnerable children. She is the wife of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Catherine Victoria Aitken, formerly Victoria, Countess Spencer, is a British former fashion model and former wife of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Lady Kitty Eleanor Lewis is a British model and aristocrat. She is the eldest child of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, niece of Diana, Princess of Wales and the first cousin of William, Prince of Wales and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex. Spencer is the spokesmodel for jewellery brand Bulgari and fashion company Dolce & Gabbana.
Esther Acklom, also known as Esther Spencer, Viscountess Althorp, was a British heiress and socialite most well known for her social flirtations. Born the only child of Richard Acklom of Wiseton Hall, Nottinghamshire, and his wife Elizabeth, Acklom found great success and popularity in London social circles because of her wealth and good humour. She quickly gained the reputation of a flirt, turning down a large amount of marriage proposals, including those of James, Lord Lindsay, naval officer Edmund Knox, and Henry, Lord Glentworth, the heir of Lord Limerick.
He (Paul Burrell) launched a scathing attack on Lord Spencer, calling him a hypocrite, and said the letter that had most hurt Diana was one from her brother refusing her permission to move to the Althorp estate and dismissing the bulimia from which she suffered as "mental problems"