A preparatory school attended by Diana, Princess of Wales is due to close this week due to “unprecedented financial challenges”.
Riddlesworth Hall School, between Thetford and Diss in Norfolk, opened in 1946 in a Grade II listed 18th century former country house.
It will close its doors for good on Friday after struggling with “the impact of the pandemic and the current economic climate.”
Young Diana Spencer was a boarder there from nine to twelve years old – a formative time in her life as her parents had just divorced. She left in 1973.
A photograph taken by her father, John Spencer, Viscount Althorp, showed her looking miserable in her red jumper and gray pleated skirt as she sat on a log with her pleated box, preparing to enter independent preparatory school for the first time .
Diana, Princess of Wales visits Riddlesworth Hall School, her old school in Norfolk in April 1989
Diana looked miserable as she prepared to attend Independent Prep School for the first time
A spokesman said everyone was “extremely saddened” by the decision to close
She made threats, including “If you love me, don’t leave me here,” but she eventually grew to love the school, which was an all-girls institution at the time.
The Reverend Reginald Sweet, a Latin teacher and chaplain at the school while Diana was there, said she was sad at first but quickly adjusted and was popular with the staff and other girls.
“The great thing about her was that she always took care of the little ones or any girl who was down or upset,” he said in a 2017 interview, aged 81.
“The newbies who came in and were homesick, she’d take care of that. She was always very popular that way.’
Diana wasn’t very academic, Rev. Sweet said, but she made a name for herself in other areas, most notably by regularly winning the Legatt Cup, which was awarded to helpful students.
She also helped run Pets’ Corner, set up for animals the children brought from home. Diana kept her beloved Peanut guinea pig there.
“Diana used to help clean up in the chapel. She was just a good all round little girl who was eager to please and help. Almost every trimester she would win the ‘most helpful girl’ cup,” Rev. Sweet said.
He also described himself as having a “soft touch” as the only male employee at the time. Girls made him post letters to avoid being scrutinized for anything “gross” first – with Diana using the secret arrangement to “post her letters to her boyfriend without the staff knowing.”
The Reverend Reginald Sweet, a Latin teacher and chaplain at the school while Diana was there, said she was sad at first but settled in quickly and was popular with the staff and other girls
Riddlesworth Hall School, between Thetford and Diss in Norfolk, opened 1946 in a Grade II listed 18th century former country house
Headteacher Patricia Wood with an old school photograph from Riddlesworth Hall Prep showing Princess Diana
Princess Diana (center row center) in an old school photo
In 1989 she went back to visit her former school – here she is pictured interacting with students
The late Princess of Wales on a trip down memory lane
Her time there began in the wake of her parents’ divorce, which came after her mother Frances left her father for wallpaper magnate Peter Shand Kydd and left the family home, Park House, next to Sandringham, for London.
Speaking of her memories of the school to royal author Andrew Morton for his explosive biography, Diana: Her True Story – In Her Own Words, she said: “I remember there was a great discussion that a judge was going to come to me in Riddlesworth. (my prep school) and ask who I would most like to live with. The judge didn’t show up.’
She described feeling “terribly different at school because we had divorced parents and no one else at the time.”
But the period likely helped create the compassionate woman she would become, as she added, “The divorce has helped me relate to someone else who is upset in their family life, whether it’s stepfather syndrome or mother or whatever, I understand. Been there, done it.’
Young Diana Spencer was a boarder there from nine to twelve years old – a formative time in her life as her parents had just divorced
The school, which has recently taken on both boys and girls, joined the Confucius International Education Group in 2015, which operates international schools in China, Spain and the US.
A letter Diana sent to Riddlesworth Hall School, which she attended as a child
The shy and withdrawn girl loved “the thrill of putting on makeup” for school plays, but refused any part with lines.
She also won a Four Year Trot Dive Sports Cup and other Best Care Guinea Pig awards, “perhaps because mine was the only guinea pig in the guinea pig division.”
Diana also revealed how she almost got expelled from school after agreeing to participate in a challenge by going to the end of the estate’s driveway after 9pm to meet an outsider who brought sweets.
When she arrived at the gate, emergency services suddenly drove in and the lights came on at the school.
“I wandered back terrified and found some idiot in my bedroom saying she had appendicitis,” she recalls.
Then they asked, “Where’s Diana?” “I don’t know where she went.”
Her parents were summoned, but she was not told that her father was “excited” and her mother said, “I didn’t think you had it in you.”
The school, which recently started taking in both boys and girls, joined the Confucius International Education Group in 2015, which manages international schools in China, Spain and the US. It was renamed Confucius International School Riddlesworth Hall as a result.
Day learners were charged up to £8,970 a year, while seven-day boarders were charged £20,100.
A spokesman said everyone was “extremely saddened” by the decision to close.
He added: ‘The school is no longer financially viable. The school has been facing unprecedented financial challenges for several years, due in part to the impact of the pandemic and the current economic climate.
“Our priority now is to support our students and their families over the coming weeks to ensure they are cared for during this troubling time.”
