Charles Spencer gave an insight into a recent celebrity encounter on an episode of iconic model Twiggy's podcast, Tea With Twiggy – and it was so unexpected!
The Earl revealed that writer, comedian and actor Steve Coogan had optioned one of his books, To Catch A King: Charles II's Great Escape and that the two had a phone conversation during lockdown at the start of the pandemic.
Charles explained: "So I was having this hour-long chat with Steve Coogan, he's a very interesting man as you would expect, and very bright.
"And at the end, I assume he thinks such a sort of inbred toff that I'm not like normal people, at the end he said, 'By the way I've been on television a bit myself' and I thought this is crazy, I'm such an Alan Partridge fan that if he gave me one line from any episode I could do the next scene.
© Getty"He obviously just thought I come from a different world but that's not true and I thought it was hilarious really."
"That is so funny," his interviewer agreed. Charles has showcased the light-hearted side of his personality over the last few weeks on his new podcast, Rabbit Hole Detectives, which he hosts alongside the Reverend Richard Coles and historian Dr Cat Jarman.
© GettyOn a recent episode, the father-of-seven opened up about a surprising aspect of his childhood. Like his nephews, Prince William and Prince Harry, the Earl attended Eton College.
© GettyWhile he was there, however, there was a rule in place that he admits in retrospect was "bizarre". In a brief aside on his show, the historian and author said: "When I was at Eton, we still had a pub we were allowed to go to, we were allowed two pints a day".
© Getty"From what age?" asked Cat, as Richard joked: "Eight". "From about 16," Charles replied, going on to say: "Bizarre to think of that now… We all worked out that two pints of Pils was a lot stronger, would go very long way, so you'd have that about 11.30 and the rest of the day just swum past you".
© GettyAlongside Diana and his other older sisters Sarah and Jane, Charles grew up at Althorp, the Spencer family estate, from 1975, when their grandfather died and their father John became Earl Spencer.
© GettyCharles is now custodian of the property, and along with his wife Karen, is embarking on some ambitious renovation projects.
Karen sends a weekly newsletter to fans of the estate, and the latest installment has revealed that there will be a lot of digging to be done as the ponds on site get fully restored.
© Getty"So much going on here, hard to know where to start!" the newsletter began, before Karen got stuck into explaining the plans.
© GettyShe declared: "I can't wait till these are all cleaned up. They will be MUCH deeper than they are now once all the decades and decades of sediment are cleaned out. Probably 8-10 feet of it in each pond."
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