Millionaire Spencer Matthews has vowed his three children will need to earn their own money because he won’t be passing on his colossal family wealth. The former Made In Chelsea star, 36, is the son of multimillionaire Eden Rock hotelier David Matthews, and was educated at Eton College where fees are currently £63,000 a year.

While he found fame as a playboy who loved to party, Spencer has spent the last five years transforming his image from reality TV playboy to sober businessman and endurance athlete and it’s convinced him not to afford his children a life of privilege – or a trust fund.

Vogue and Spencer pose for a family snap with Theodore, 6, Gigi, 4, and Otto, 2

Spencer tells today’s Notebook magazine: “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 married 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.

Spencer poses with his wife Vogue, who he married in 2018 (
Image:
Dave J Hogan/Getty Images)

Spencer and Vogue share three children (
Image:
Irish Mirror)

Spencer is already ensuring his children have challenges and Theodore has recently joined his local Parkrun, perhaps inspired by Spencer’s ultramarathons. Spencer says: “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.”

Comedian Jimmy Carr has inspired Spencer’s vision of fatherhood. Spencer says, “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.”

Spencer spent a day as a delivery driver in a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van (
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Spencer wants his brood to learn the value of hard work. He adds: “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.”