Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a reporter on NBC’s Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of seven books, including the Sunday Times bestsellers Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, National Book Awards) and Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I.

‘Whether he is describing the sleepless nights of his childhood, the ticking of clocks "always… too subtle a sound, getting absorbed in the oak of the floorboards and the fabric of the tapestries", or appraising the forbidding character of his grandfather, the "Curator Earl", Spencer casts a candid, evocative light on his subject …Indeed, Spencer's own efforts on the estate have been considerable. First came the business of repairing the predations of his "short-termist stepmother" Raine, Countess of Dartmouth–she who carpeted a 115-ft long Tudor picture gallery with a wall-to-wall oatmeal carpet. Now comes the death and burial on the estate of his sister Diana, Princess of Wales. That Charles must now curate the family home as a site of global mourning is a trial quite the equal of anything the estate has ever faced.

Charles Spencer was educated at Eton College and obtained his degree in Modern History at Magdalen College, Oxford. He was a reporter on NBC’s Today show from 1986 until 1995, and is the author of seven books, including the Sunday Times bestsellers Blenheim: Battle for Europe (shortlisted for History Book of the Year, National Book Awards) and Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I.

‘Whether he is describing the sleepless nights of his childhood, the ticking of clocks "always… too subtle a sound, getting absorbed in the oak of the floorboards and the fabric of the tapestries", or appraising the forbidding character of his grandfather, the "Curator Earl", Spencer casts a candid, evocative light on his subject …Indeed, Spencer's own efforts on the estate have been considerable. First came the business of repairing the predations of his "short-termist stepmother" Raine, Countess of Dartmouth–she who carpeted a 115-ft long Tudor picture gallery with a wall-to-wall oatmeal carpet. Now comes the death and burial on the estate of his sister Diana, Princess of Wales. That Charles must now curate the family home as a site of global mourning is a trial quite the equal of anything the estate has ever faced.