Earl Spencer, the younger brother of Princess Diana, has said he was sexually abused as a child.

The 59-year-old has detailed the sexual assaults and beatings he suffered by a female staff member when he was at Maidwell Hall boarding school.

He says in his memoir he was abused by an assistant matron when he was 11, leaving him with such trauma that he self-harmed over the notion she may leave the school.

Earl Spencer, who said he’d been left with lifelong “demons” after the abuse, wrote: “There seemed to be an unofficial hierarchy among her prey… she chose one boy each term to share her bed and would use him for intercourse.

“Her control over mesmerised boys was total, for we were starved of feminine warmth and desperate for attention and affection.”

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Earl Spencer said he lost his virginity to an Italian prostitute at the age of 12 as a result of the abuse he suffered.

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He wrote: “There was no joy in the act, no sense of arrival, no coming of age.

“I believe now that I was simply completing the process set in motion by the assistant matron’s perverted attention.”

He described reliving his experiences at the school as “an absolutely hellish experience”, writing: “I’ve frequently witnessed deep pain, still flickering in the eyes of my Maidwell contemporaries.

“Many of us left Maidwell with demons sewn into the seams of our souls.”

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Sky News has contacted Maidwell Hall for comment.

Extracts of the memoir have been serialised in The Mail on Sunday.

A Maidwell Hall spokesperson told the publication the school was “dismayed” by the allegations of abuse, adding “we are sorry”.

The spokesperson also said: “It is difficult to read about practices which were, sadly, sometimes believed to be normal and acceptable at that time.

“Almost every facet of school life has evolved significantly since the 1970s. At the heart of the changes is the safeguarding of children and promotion of their welfare.”

Earl Spencer’s book, A Very Private School, will be published on 14 March.

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