I’ve spent years trying to unravel the damage of boarding school - Charles Spencer and Nicky Campbell are not alone

It is well known that British boarding schools are favoured by the aristocracy and deemed to confer social advantage on their alumni. open image in gallery Spencer with his older sister, Diana, in 1968 A pattern of symptoms and common behaviours emerged, and I named it “boarding school syndrome”. Trying to make sense of the feelings he experienced at the private prep school Maidwell Hall between the ages of eight and 13 in the 1970s, Spencer explains that he felt he had been sent to boarding school “because I’d fallen short as a son”. open image in gallery Countless children sent to boarding schools have had similar experiences Many of my male patients have told of how a teacher would take them from their bed at night and give them “special attention”. In response to his book, a spokesperson from Maidwell Hall said that it was “sobering” to read about his experiences and that almost “every facet of school life has evolved significantly since the 1970s”, adding: “At the heart of the changes is the safeguarding of children and promotion of their welfare.” This week, Mr Campbell paid tribute to the work of Edinburgh Academy rector Barry Welsh in creating a “completely different” environment at the school to the one he left.