Meet Charles Spencer’s 3 wives from his turbulent previous marriages before meeting Cat Jarman

Charles Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana, has been in the headlines ahead of the publication of his bombshell book, Swan Song: Diana My Sister, which has sparked a “war of words” with King Charles. 

The 62-year-old Earl currently lives at the Grade I-listed Althorp House in Northamptonshire, the Spencer family’s seat, with his wife Cat Jarman following their wedding in Arizona back in May. 

But although he now appears to have finally found his happily ever after, Charles Spencer was once known for having a colourful love life, and has been married three times previously with a total of seven children. 

“As someone who has been divorced three times (from women who are all double divorcées), I am fully aware, from personal knowledge and the experience of those I have loved, how challenging marriage can be,” the Earl writes in Swan Song. 

Ahead of the book’s publication on 22 September, HELLO! takes a look at Charles’s previous relationships – and the reasons why they ended. 

Victoria Aitken – 1989-1997

Earl Spencer was married to his first wife, Victoria Aitken, for eight years.

Victoria Aitken, neé Lockwood, was a British model for Dior and Levi, and was once described by famed fashion designer Ralph Lauren as, “the most beautiful woman in the world,” according to Tatler Magazine.

Charles was besotted and proposed just six weeks after they met with a heart-shaped ring consisting of a diamond and a ruby. 

The couple married in September 1989 at St Mary’s Church in Great Brington, with Prince Harry as a pageboy. 

They welcomed daughter Kitty in 1990, twins Eliza and Amelia in 1992, and son Louis in 1994.

After starting a new life in South Africa together, following rumours of alleged infidelity by the Earl, the pair divorced in 1997 after eight years of marriage, the same year that Princess Diana died in a car accident in Paris. Following their split, Charles returned to the UK.

During their divorce hearing, Victoria accused Charles of affairs with other women. He eventually agreed out of court to pay his ex-wife $1.8 million and give her a $250,000 home in Cape Town.

Charles did not attend the weddings of Amelia or Kitty, reportedly due to a strained relationship following his divorce from Victoria.

Caroline Freud – 2001-2007

His second wife was Caroline Freud, the ex-wife of businessman Matthew Freud, to whom she was married for six years. 

Diana’s brother met Caroline, a former schoolteacher known to close friends as Pidge, when the two were students at Oxford. 

She later married famed PR executive Matthew Freud, with whom she has two sons, but the pair fell out in 1997.

Charles and Caroline had two children together, the Hon. Edmund, born in 2003, and Lady Lara, 20.

However, Charles started a relationship with American journalist Coleen Sullivan, who had been sent to interview him, when Lara was just four months old.

Charles and Caroline separated in 2007, and later divorced, with Caroline receiving a £5.65 million payout. 

Charles and Coleen also split around a year and a half later, before he began a relationship with the model Lady Bianca Eliot, to whom he was briefly engaged before the wedding was called off. 

Countess Karen Spencer – 2011-2024

The Earl then married Countess Karen Spencer in 2011, a 53-year-old Canadian social entrepreneur. They share a daughter, Charlotte, whom they welcomed in 2012.

The former couple originally met on a blind date after a former colleague of Charles said, “I’ve found the perfect woman for you.”

Their divorce was finalised in December 2025 after announcing they had parted ways in 2024. 

HELLO! understands that Karen will be keeping her title, though she previously posted on Instagram last year, confirming that she had moved out of Althorp a year after the separation.

Following their split, the Countess was involved in a legal battle with Earl Spencer’s new partner, Professor Catrine Jarman, after Cat claimed that Countess Karen had revealed her MS diagnosis to Charles and staff at Althorp.

The case was settled out of court last year for an undisclosed sum, with no admission of liability. 

In her defence, Countess Karen revealed details about the split, such as her contention that her 13-year-marriage was ended by her husband via text message (a claim the Earl refuted).

Charles Spencer said in a statement: “Cat has handled every aspect of this with grace, integrity and quiet courage. She sought only what was her right: the same right to privacy that every person deserves. 

“Multiple sclerosis is a serious condition; its course is uncertain and its demands are significant. Those who live with the condition deserve complete control over when, how and to whom they choose to disclose it.”