Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, has reflected on the early days of his broadcasting career in the US, sharing a nostalgic post about a life-changing opportunity he received 40 years ago.
Posting an old photograph on Instagram, the Earl Spencer described those pictured as a “fine group of journalists” and recalled taking a month-long job with NBC News and the Today show.
“The start of my broadcasting career, exactly 40 years ago this summer,” he wrote.
Spencer explained that, at the end of his temporary work in the UK, Steve Friedman, the programme’s executive producer, offered him a full-time role at a party.
“To my huge relief and delight,” Spencer said, he was offered the position. Unsure whether the offer was serious, he asked Friedman: “Do you mean that?”
“Sure,” Friedman replied.
Spencer then found a napkin and wrote out a basic contract, asking Friedman to sign it. Six weeks later, he arrived at Friedman’s office in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza with the napkin.
“He laughed, honoured it, and we went from there,” Spencer said.
Over the next decade, the late princess’s brother worked with many of the journalists in the photograph while reporting from around the world.
“It was a lot of hard work and hard laughter,” he wrote, adding that several of his former colleagues remain friends. He said the recent death of one person in the picture had made him think back on that period of his life.
Spencer’s post came days after Prince Harry and Meghan Markle reportedly visited Althorp House with their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. The estate was Princess Diana’s childhood home and is where she was laid to rest following her death in 1997.
