In a photograph captured in September 1968, a young Lady Di accompanies her younger brother Charles Spencer on his first day of school.
Wearing high gray socks, a black pleated skirt, a red jacket with yellow details, and a matching hat.
In the photograph, the future princess expresses a mixture of nervousness and excitement at the start of a new stage at Silfield School.
Princess Diana on Charles Spencer’s first day of school
The image, recently shared by Charles Spencer on social media, offers a unique glimpse into the childhood of the unforgettable Princess of Wales.
“My first day of school, in September 1968: my father took this photograph of me and my sister, Diana, just before he drove us to Silfield, a really lovely primary school in King’s Lynn, Norfolk,” Charles recounts in his Instagram post.
The headmistress of the school at the time, Miss Jean Lowe, is remembered by Charles as “a warm and thoughtful lady who loved her boys and girls.”
Lady Di’s brother remained at Silfield until 1972 when he transferred to what he describes in his memoir as “A Very Private School.”
By the latter, Charles refers to what he recounts in his recently published book, where he tells of the physical and sexual abuse he suffered during his childhood when he went on to study at Maidwell Hall boarding school in Northamptonshire.
Two years before her brother started school in Northamptonshire, Diana was sent to Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk.
For Diana, the boarding school years proved to be a difficult time.
After her parents (Frances Roche and John Spencer) divorced, the princess was sent to Riddlesworth Hall in Norfolk at the age of 9.
Although Diana had asked her father not to send her there, she spent three years of her life there, from the age of nine to twelve.
As Charles recounted in an interview on BBC One, Diana told her father at the time, “If you loved me, you wouldn’t leave me here.”
For the princess’s brother, “it was incredibly shocking” to see his older sister say that to her father just before leaving her at boarding school.
Despite the challenges, the princess was able to overcome that stage and, as the photograph shared by her brother shows, her childhood was marked by moments of illusion and new beginnings.
