My brother Michael died on Everest 23 years ago… I want to go there and bring him home, says Spencer Matthews
IT is the tragedy which devastated an otherwise perfect family life – as 22-year-old Michael Matthews plummeted to his death on the treacherous slopes of Mount Everest.
Now, 23 years after the horrifying accident, the late adventurer’s brother Spencer is planning a project to retrace his final moments for the first time as part of a TV documentary, backed by his brother James and their wives Vogue Williams and Pippa Middleton.
Former Made In Chelsea regular Spencer, 33, hopes to follow his sibling’s journey to the place where it is believed he lost his life — and even reclaim his body.
Michael, an experienced mountaineer, died in 1999 on a quest that saw him become youngest Brit to conquer Everest.
He reached the summit, the world’s highest at 29,031ft (8,849 metres), but became separated from his group during intense storms while on his descent.
His body, like those of many climbers who have died on the mountain, has never been recovered, though local guides believe they know where his remains are likely to be.
It is a hugely emotional project
Along with his brother James, 46, and his wife Pippa, 38, Spencer and his family have since raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for The Michael Matthews Foundation, created in Michael’s memory to support education projects in Africa and Asia.
The charity aims to help some of the most poverty-stricken areas of the world by investing in vital school infrastructure.
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Pals said Spencer hoped the film project could bring some peace to himself and his family in the aftermath of their loss.
A source said: “Spencer’s documentary about Michael and his final days is at the very early stages and Disney+ have shown an interest.
The Matthews family have never known what really happened to Michael immediately before he became the 162nd climber to die on the mountain.
“Though the Matthews family were never able to recover Michael’s body, there is a guide who believes they know his final resting place.
“It is a hugely emotional project and will be a very upsetting journey for many reasons, but Spencer is hugely passionate about embarking on it if he can make it work.
“It’s a very tough film to make, but Spencer has the backing of his parents David and Jane, as well as James and Pippa.
“For years the family have raised funds in Michael’s name and for Spencer, if they can get the project off the ground, it is going to be for his family and Michael.”
The Matthews family have never known what really happened to Michael immediately before he became the 162nd climber to die on the mountain.
It is believed he became lost in heavy snow in Everest’s infamous Death Zone, at more than 26,000ft (7,900 metres), as he descended in a guided group.
Before his fateful Everest climb, stock market trader Michael had scaled some of the world’s most challenging mountains, including Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa, and peaks in the Pyrenees and Swiss Alps in Europe.
He had proved typically capable as he began his ascent to the top of the world, and despite struggling with the final stages of the climb, he was able to enjoy 20 minutes with his team taking in the view from the summit before they started to make their way down.
It was then that Michael became separated and tragedy struck.
Spencer, who has two young children from his marriage to model Vogue, wrote about losing Michael in his 2013 autobiography: “His loss was devastating for the family and over time this became worse because the circumstances surrounding Michael’s death have never been fully explained.
“James took the news badly. With just a year and a half between them, he and Mike were the closest of friends. The loss was heartbreaking for James.”
The brothers’ father David has launched a series of legal battles in a bid to get justice for his son, who he believes died because of the negligence of mountain guides.
And when it comes to getting what he wants, David is not used to losing.
The son of a Rotherham coal miner, he went from being a car mechanic to building a reputed £40million business empire from selling cars.
In his younger years he had built a promising career as a racing driver, until he suffered an eye injury in a serious crash at Silverstone that killed another driver and ended his racing days.
In the 1990s twice-married David went into property development. He and second wife Jane later spent some time living in Paris then they moved to tax haven Monaco.
Today he owns a hotel in the Caribbean and a 10,000-acre Scottish estate — which entitles him to call himself the Laird of Glen Affric.
And of course the family have royal connections, with son James married to Pippa — sister of Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge.
Six years after she had been a bridesmaid for her sister at the global spectacle of a royal wedding, Pippa married James at St Mark’s Church in Englefield, Berks in 2017.
Their new niece and nephew Princess Charlotte and Prince George both had small roles in the bridal party.
Spencer attended the day solo, despite being in a relationship with his now wife, Vogue.
According to reports, a “no ring, no bring” policy was enforced due to the future monarchs William and Kate being there too. Today Pippa is hugely supportive of The Michael Matthews Foundation.
In 2018 she and James even gave their first-born son Arthur the second name Michael in tribute.
In 2014 she and her 34-year-old brother James cycled 3,000 miles across the US for the charity and two years later they reached the 14,000ft summit of the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps to raise money for the foundation.
Pippa said at the time: “It was humbling to have been able to climb one of the world’s most beautiful mountains and raise money for a charity created in memory of an extraordinary young man who lost his life on another peak.”
James, himself a millionaire businessman, has also competed in gruelling feats, including iron man challenges and triathlons, to raise cash and awareness.
Last year Spencer completed the gruelling six-day Marathon Des Sables foot race across Morocco’s Sahara Desert to support the foundation.
Spencer said about the foundation’s work: “We put 4,000 children through education in Africa who would be unlikely to receive one without the foundation.”
Explaining how his family have struggled to cope with the circumstances of Michael’s death, Spencer wrote in his autobiography: “We have not been able to say goodbye in person.
“We have nowhere to go to sit with him.
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“He lives on with us in our minds only. On Mike’s birthday James and I send Mum and Dad red roses for the age he would have been — I guess our family’s way of dealing with losing Mike is to believe that he goes on with us.
“It’s just that he’s in another place.”
