The 9th Earl Spencer, uncle to Prince William and Prince Harry, claimed he had been abused at Maidwell Hall in a memoir, 'A Very Private School'
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Authorities have launched a criminal investigation into Maidwell Hall, the British boarding school where Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Charles Spencer, claimed he had been abused as a student.
The Northamptonshire Police announced that an investigation had been launched into allegations of "non-recent sexual abuse" at the elite school. According to their statement, police "conducted preliminary inquiries into allegations of abuse that are said to have taken place in the 1970s at Maidwell Hall School earlier in the year."
"We are in the early stages of investigating a number of non-recent allegations of sexual abuse at Maidwell Hall School," said a spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police in a statement. "Northamptonshire Police takes all allegations of abuse very seriously and where reports are made to us, we will pursue all available lines of enquiry to help bring perpetrators to justice."
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Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer, is the younger brother of Princess Diana. (Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)
The statement encouraged anyone with information to come forward and contact investigators.
A spokesperson for Maidwell Hall and the 9th Earl Spencer didn’t immediately respond to Fox News Digital's requests for comment. A spokesperson for the school told People magazine they had no comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
Spencer, 60, claimed he had been groomed and abused as a child in his memoir, "A Very Private School." The book was published in March of this year.
Charles Spencer's memoir, "A Very Private School," was published in March. (Gallery Books)
Spencer, who enrolled at Maidwell Hall when he was eight years old, previously told Fox News Digital that meeting with other former pupils compelled him to visit his painful past.
"As I listened to their stories, I was appalled," he recalled. "There was one [former student] I met with after not seeing him for 40 years. I knew from his wife that he had never talked about his time at the school because it was so traumatizing. He told me how he was made to feel worthless every day, how he’d been seriously sexually assaulted as a nine-year-old three times by somebody who was meant to protect him.
"I took 10 pages of notes, stopped and said, ‘This is too terrible — I can’t tell this story.’ He reached across, grabbed my arm and said, ‘Somebody has to do it – it’s got to be you.’ That convinced me, the truth needed to be shared with the world."
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An aerial view of Maidwell Hall, the elite British boarding school. (David Goddard/Getty Images)
In the book, Spencer claimed that he had been groomed and sexually abused at age 11 by an assistant matron at the school. She was about 19 or 20, Spencer said. He alleged that the unnamed matron had preyed on other boys who were under 13 years old.
Over the years, Spencer kept the abuse a secret. But after two failed marriages, he realized that he needed help.
"I was so confused by my endless romantic disasters, deep unhappiness and two divorces," he explained. "I also wanted to do something for my children. Actually, that was the spur. I wanted to get better for them, so I could be a better father.
Charles Spencer recently announced that he and his wife, Karen Spencer, Countess Spencer, have called it quits. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)
"I don’t know if they would agree that I managed it, but that was my aim. And I think, if I hadn’t been a parent, I probably would have just gone on ... coping. [Saying it out loud] was surprisingly helpful. It didn’t get to the root of the problem, but it sent me on a course of more honest therapy."
A spokesperson for Maidwell Hall didn't immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment at the time of the book's publication. It told "Today" that it has notified authorities who investigate possible crimes against children. School officials also encouraged any past students with similar experiences to come forward.
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Charles Spencer with a young Diana Spencer, circa 1968. (Central Press/Getty Images)
According to "Today," Spencer hired a private investigator years ago to track down the woman in question. While she was alive at the time, he felt it would be "too much" to confront her. The outlet noted that, under British law, there is no statute of limitation for rape and sexual assault.
Stephanie Nolasco covers entertainment at Foxnews.com.
