Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer

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The Right Honourable
The Earl Spencer
DL
Lord Spencer in 1998
Personal details
Born
Charles Edward Maurice Spencer

(1964-05-20) 20 May 1964 (age 59)
London, England
Spouses
​
​
(m. 1989; div. 1997)​
Caroline Freud
​
​
(m. 2001; div. 2007)​
​
​
(m. 2011)​
Children7, including Lady Kitty and Louis, Viscount Althorp
Parent(s)John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer
Frances Shand Kydd
Residence(s)Althorp
Spencer House
EducationEton College
Alma materMagdalen College, Oxford
Known forYounger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales

Charles Edward Maurice Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, DL (born 20 May 1964), styled Viscount Althorp between 1975 and 1992, is a British nobleman, peer, author, journalist, and broadcaster. He is the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, which makes him the maternal uncle of Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex.

Early life and education

Spencer was born in London on 20 May 1964 and named Charles Edward Maurice, with Queen Elizabeth II as his godmother.[1] His parents were called Viscount and Viscountess Althorp, as his paternal grandfather, Albert Spencer, 7th Earl Spencer, was still alive at the time of his birth.[1] Spencer had three elder sisters: Sarah, Jane, and Diana. Diana later became the Princess of Wales. His infant elder brother, John, had died within hours of his birth four years before Spencer was born.[1] He and Diana were very close to each other in their childhood. His parents' troubled marriage ended in divorce when he was four years old. Spencer was educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied Modern History.[2][3]

Career

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 (1994–95) 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. At the height of her emotional difficulties, he had refused to allow his sister Diana to live in a cottage on the Althorp estate - despite her pleas.[4] 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.[5][6]

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.[7] Spencer has ruled out the conspiracy theories regarding 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."[8]

He was 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.[9]

It was reported in 2003 that Spencer had refused to allow his sister Diana to live at Althorp, despite her request. It was also reported that Spencer had accused Diana of displaying "deceitful" and "manipulative" behaviour which were characteristics of the mental illness associated with bulimia nervosa which Diana herself had admitted she suffered.[10] Diana was eventually 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.[11]

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, Althorp. Spencer is also a patron of the Northamptonshire County Cricket Club.[12]

Personal life

On 16 September 1989, Spencer, then known by the courtesy title of Viscount Althorp, married Victoria Lockwood (born 20 November 1965). The wedding was held at the Church of St Mary, Great Brington, and Darius Guppy was the best man. Two nieces, Emily McCorquodale and The Hon. Eleanor Fellowes, were bridesmaids. Two nephews, Prince Harry and The Hon. Alexander Fellowes (son of Lord and Lady Fellowes), were page boys. Spencer and Lockwood, who had moved to Cape Town, South Africa, were divorced on 3 December 1997. Diana's death occurred while the divorce case was in progress; shortly after his divorce, Spencer moved back to the United Kingdom. The Earl has four children by Victoria Lockwood, three daughters and one son:[13]

On 15 December 2001, he married Caroline Freud (born Hutton, born 16 October 1966), former wife of Matthew Freud. They separated in 2007 and later divorced. They have two children:[14]

  • The Hon. Edmund Spencer (born 6 October 2003)
  • Lady Lara Spencer (born 16 March 2006)

On 18 June 2011 at Althorp House, Spencer married Karen Gordon (born Karen Villeneuve, born 30 November 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.[14] They have one child together:[15]

  • Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer (born 30 July 2012)[16]

Spencer chose his fifth daughter's middle name in honour of his sister, Diana, Princess of Wales.[16] Spencer was reported to have said, "We hadn't settled on a first name before the birth, but Charlotte is a name we both love, and it really suits her. We knew that as soon as we saw her. And though it's been 15 years since Diana died, I still miss her every day and I wanted her commemorated in the naming of our daughter."[17]

Spencer attended the wedding of his nephew William to Catherine Middleton, who were then given the titles of Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Westminster Abbey, London, on 29 April 2011. He also attended the wedding of his nephew Harry to Meghan Markle, who were then given the titles of Duke and Duchess of Sussex at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, on 19 May 2018.

The Earl resides at his ancestral seat, Althorp House.

Books

  • Althorp: the Story of an English House (1998) London: Viking.
  • The Spencers: a Personal History of an English Family (2000).
  • Blenheim, Battle for Europe (2004). Paperback edition by Phoenix, 2005. ISBN 0-304-36704-4. This book was a Sunday Times best-seller, and was shortlisted for "History Book of the Year" at the 2005 National Book Awards.
  • Prince Rupert – The Last Cavalier (2007). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson ISBN 978-0-297-84610-9.
  • Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I (2014). Bloomsbury ISBN 978-1-408-85170-8. This book was a Sunday Times best-seller.
  • To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape (2018) ISBN 978-0008153663

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer
Coronet
A Coronet of an Earl
Crest
Out of a Ducal Coronet Or a Griffin's Head Azure gorged with a Bar Gemelle Gules between two Wings expanded of the second
Escutcheon
Quarterly Argent and Gules in the 2nd and 3rd quarters a Fret Or over all on a Bend Sable three Escallops of the first
Supporters
Dexter: A Griffin per fess Ermine and Erminois gorged with a Collar Sable the edges flory-counterflory and chained of the last and on the Collar three Escallops Argent; Sinister: A Wyvern Erect on his tail Ermine similarly collared and chained
Motto
Dieu Defend Le Droit (God defend the right)

Ancestry

References

  1. ^ a b c "Biography for Earl Charles Spencer". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  2. ^ "Ken Dodd at Althorp's Literary Festival". Althorp. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  3. ^ "Speaker Profile". London Speaker Bureau. Archived from the original on 18 November 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  4. ^ A Heritage - Althorp Estate
  5. ^ The Tarnished Crown: Crisis in the House of Windsor, by Anthony Holden, London, Viking Publishers 1993.
  6. ^ "Almost alone among the great families who rose to affluence in the sixteenth century the Spencers owed their wealth not to the favour of a monarch or to the acquisition of monastery lands but to their own skill as farmers and businessmen." Georgina Battiscombe in The Spencers of Althorp, 1984
  7. ^ "Prince William's uncle Earl Spencer set to wed". BBC. 15 February 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  8. ^ "Earl rules out Diana conspiracies". BBC. 22 October 2003. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  9. ^ Goodwin, Stephen (16 June 1993). "Inside Parliament: Peers given lesson in land access: Maiden speech by Earl Spencer focuses on responsible approach to use of the countryside - Bill attacks 'sleazy world of Tory finances'". The Independent. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
  10. ^ Davies, Caroline (23 October 2003). "Diana 'wept as she read brother's cruel words'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 September 2015. 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"
  11. ^ Jikhano (26 May 2006). "History Channel: Blenheim – Battle For Europe". Retrieved 20 June 2016.
  12. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  13. ^ Calvi, Nuala (25 April 2011). "Royal wedding clash of the titles! Spencers vs. Parker Bowles". CNN. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  14. ^ a b Roya Nikkhah; Ben Leach (18 June 2011). "Earl Spencer marries for a third time". The Telegraph. London. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  15. ^ Nicholl, Kate (5 August 2012). "Spencer's joy as Althorp sees first birth since 1793". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  16. ^ a b "Princess Diana's Brother Names His Daughter in Her Memory". US Weekly. 6 August 2012. Retrieved 27 May 2013.
  17. ^ "Earl Spencer names baby daughter after Diana, Princess of Wales". The Telegraph. UK. 6 August 2012.
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Williamson 1981a.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Williamson 1981b.

Sources

External links

Court offices
Preceded by Page of Honour
1977–1979 		Succeeded by
Peerage of Great Britain
Preceded by Earl Spencer
1992—present 		Incumbent
Heir:
Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by United Kingdom order of precedence
(gentlemen) 		Succeeded by


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