Princess Diana’s head was ‘smashed into concrete wall’ by merciless nanny
As the media unpacks the revelations in Earl Spencer’s new book, one noteworthy tale has surfaced about his and Diana’s childhood and the treatment they allegedly faced
It’s been claimed that Princess Diana’s head was smashed against a “concrete wall”
(Image: UK Press via Getty Images)
Princess Diana’s head was smashed against a “concrete wall” by a “hatchet-faced” nanny when she was only a child, it’s been claimed. Charles Spencer has been the subject of multiple headlines in recent weeks after making eye-opening claims about his late sister, Diana, and her former husband, King Charles, in his new book.
In Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, Earl Spencer alleged the then-Prince of Wales remarked “we’ll forget her soon enough” during a row over whether the young Princes William and Harry should walk in their mother’s funeral procession.
Buckingham Palace responded by saying the King was “mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgement and colour memory in ways others do not recognise, even many years after such a loss”.
And as the media continues to unpack the revelations in the memoir, one noteworthy tale has surfaced about his and Diana’s childhood and the treatment they allegedly faced at the hands of a nanny.
Earl Spencer wrote about a “hatched-faced harridan” who would “wield a wooden spoon”
(Image: Getty)
He wrote about a “hatched-faced harridan” who would “wield a wooden spoon” and strike the children’s palms, possibly in a bid to avoid detection, as the marks were “hard to see”.
Spencer wrote: “If she decided that Diana or I had been naughty, she would strike our head hard against the white concrete wall outside the nursery loo. The result was dizzying, throbbing pain and bewilderment.
“If we were both to be punished, this nanny would stand us next to one another, grab us both by the hair and bang our heads together, with surprising strength.
“The shock of these strikes was enormous and would leave us both in tears. But we were never broken by the cruelty. “
Earl Spencer explained that he and Diana were “strong-willed” and “stubborn” if they believed they were right. He says this was especially true when they thought somebody’s actions were “wrong”, adding that they’d rebel against “that sort of behaviour”.
Swan Song: Diana, My Sister has dominated headlines in recent weeks (Image: Peter Nicholls/Getty Images)
In the book, Spencer portrays his sister, who tragically died in a fatal car crash in 1997, as a caring person who “craved acceptance, admiration, kindness, and – perhaps above all – love.”
It follows reports that Prince Harry is in talks to make a documentary about his mother. The Duke of Sussex is believed to be weighing up multiple projects to honour Diana’s legacy, 30 years after her death.
Harry was 12 and William 15 when Diana passed away, with the feuding brothers previously uniting for the 2017 documentary Diana, Our Mother: Her Life and Legacy.
Earl Spencer also reflected on his sister in a chat with PEOPLE: “Yeah, there are moments when… I do feel Diana on my side in tricky moments. If I have to really go into something, a meeting where something really important is being sorted out or whatever, I always wear cuff links she gave me in the late ‘80s as a sort of memorial.
“I had a cousin who died tragically by their own hand last year and I told the parents that I was wearing Diana’s cuff links. Diana’s memory gives comfort to people even now.”
