Millionaire Spencer Matthews has pledged that his three children will have to earn their own keep as he won’t be handing down his massive family fortune. The 36-year-old former Made In Chelsea star, who is the son of multimillionaire Eden Rock hotelier David Matthews and was schooled at Eton College where fees currently stand at £63,000 a year, has undergone a transformation over the past five years.
From a party-loving playboy, Spencer has morphed into a sober businessman and endurance athlete, which has led him to decide against providing his children with a life of privilege – or a trust fund. Speaking to Notebook magazine, Spencer said: “Suffer is too strong a word, but it’s very important that my kids have to challenge themselves and experience things on their own. There’s no point in doing well in life and then giving it all to your kids. It’s doing them a huge disservice.”
Spencer tied the knot with model Vogue Williams, 39, in June 2018 in a high society wedding at the family’s Glen Affric Estate in Cannich.
At the time, Vogue was seven months pregnant with their son Theodore, who is now six. He was followed by Gigi, four, and Otto who turns three in April.
In the Notebook interview, Spencer opened up about how he’s guiding his children through challenges, with his son Theodore recently taking part in a local Parkrun. Proud dad Spencer said: “Theodore is starting to run now. He ran two kilometres the other day. I was just so proud of him because the kid got around two laps, and some kids give up after one lap because they’re given that option. The more comfort you wrap around people, the weaker they will become”, reports the Mirror.
His approach to parenting has been influenced by comedian Jimmy Carr, whom Spencer acknowledges for Carr’s thoughts on privilege.
He said: “Jimmy quite eloquently talks about trust fund kids who are given everything, and he sees them as just being really unfortunate, actually. And I would completely agree.”
Keen for his children to appreciate hard work, Spencer said: “If you’re a young man who’s just given everything, or a young woman, who’s just given everything, you may not ever understand the need to work because you have what you think you want, and then, therefore, you won’t ever feel proud of yourself. You won’t ever have a sense of achievement.”
In addition, Spencer touched upon his past struggle with alcohol, describing himself back then as “a danger to myself”.