‘History is now a niche subject’: Princess Diana’s brother Earl Spencer says children are ‘missing out on so much’ and teachers should teach more than just ‘Hitler and Henry VIII’
The earl said he wants to expand history teaching beyond ‘Hitler and Henry VIII’
We miss important subjects such as Henry I and the sinking of the White Ship
The 58-year-old said he was the last generation to learn history broadly
Princess Diana’s younger brother is also the author of Our Island Story
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Earl Spencer has criticized ‘niche history’ taught in schools, claiming children are ‘missing out on so much’.
Princess Diana’s historian and younger brother said he wanted to widen the way the subject was taught because pupils only learn about ‘Hitler and Henry VIII’.
“This is one of my bugbears, how history is taught,” he said at the Henley Literary Festival.
‘I’m 58 and I’m probably the last generation to be brought up on a very broad arena of British history, just as standard fare because history was compulsory when I was at school.
Earl Spencer has criticized ‘niche history’ taught in schools, claiming children are ‘missing out on so much’ (pictured at the unveiling of a statue of his sister Diana in 2021)
‘Now it’s a niche subject and history teachers really need to attract people to their subject so what they want to do is give you Hitler and Henry VIII and I’m afraid things like Henry just fall off the list.
‘I don’t know if I would dare to change [the curriculum] but I think history is such an important subject, not in itself necessarily, but for perspective and context.
‘So I wanted to expand the way it’s taught because I think you miss out on so much if you don’t have it.
“But I realize I would be up against a lot of opposition.”
The peer was speaking to promote his latest book, The White Ship: Conquest, Anarchy and the Wrecking of Henry I’s Dream.
He described the vessel’s sinking as ‘the biggest maritime disaster in British history’ and added: ‘There hasn’t been a shipwreck that has changed a dynasty and I think this is where it wins gold.’
The White Ship sank in the Channel in 1120, killing William Adelin, Henry I’s son and heir to the throne.
Princess Diana’s historian and younger brother said he wanted to broaden the way the subject was taught because pupils only learn about ‘Hitler and Henry VIII’ (pictured at his book launch in 2018)
It led to a succession crisis and a period of civil war between 1138 and 1153 known as The Anarchy.
Earl Spencer said it was extraordinary that so few people knew about the story, but in 1956 Winston Churchill felt it was too well known to write in his History of the English-Speaking Peoples.
He added: ‘My first history book was incredibly un-PC, it was called Our Island Story and it was a Victorian look back at how wonderful Britain has always been and the Henry I chapter is basically about the White Ship because it was such a hasty subject until the seventies.’
He also lamented the lack of understanding of the history behind road names. “Out of all my education, what I’m most excited about is being able to see parts of history still alive,” he said.
“If you put up Blenheim Road now, they’d think what the hell are you doing.”
A survey by academics at Oxford and Reading universities last year found that a small number of schools said they had ‘reduced attention to certain subjects – specifically medieval British or Tudor history – to accommodate new or a new kind of emphasis’.