Friends of Princess Diana’s brother spoke last night of their frustration that his wife has not left their stately home following the break-up of their marriage.
The Ministry of State revealed in June how Earl Spencer’s relationship with Countess Spencer ended amid the strain of writing her harrowing memoirs detailing the physical and sexual abuse she suffered at boarding school.
The couple announced their pending divorce to staff at Althorp, the family estate in Northamptonshire, in April.
But despite the split, the Canadian-born countess wrote on Instagram last week that she is “currently still at Althorp” and posted a photo of a walled orchard and two sheep named Lucky and Minty, which she revealed she would be taking with her when she left.
Sources close to Charles Spencer say the Countess, who became his third wife 13 years ago, has delayed her departure.
Earl Spencer arrived at BBC Broadcasting House in London in February last year.
Earl Spencer and his ex-wife Karen Spencer in 2017
“Does he have any dignity?” a friend asked last night.
This comes after the MoS became aware of tensions at Althorp since the couple moved to the UK full-time from Los Angeles five years ago.
According to some sources, the countess launched a costly organic farming initiative at Althorp, which “failed” in part because hundreds of acres of the estate’s farmland are affected by blackgrass, a weed prevalent in the East Midlands. A farm worker at the estate, where the earl’s elder sister Diana is buried, said: “I didn’t have the faintest idea about farming, but I thought I knew everything.”
Earl Spencer and Canadian philanthropist Karen Gordon were married in June 2011 on the grounds of Althorp. The couple had met the previous year on a blind date at a Los Angeles restaurant. Karen’s first husband was millionaire Hollywood producer Mark Gordon, best known for his work on Saving Private Ryan and The Day After Tomorrow, whom she met while working at the front desk of the Four Seasons in Toronto in 1994.
The couple married three years later but split in 2003, with Karen reportedly receiving a $1.3 million settlement. An accountancy firm, Gursey Schneider, which she hired to handle her divorce finances, reportedly won a court judgment against her over an unpaid bill of $136,000 (£102,000). She was later linked to billionaire George Soros.
Aerial view of Althorp, this Grade 1 listed stately home was the home of Lady Diana Spencer, who later became the Princess of Wales.
Earl Spencer has a 12-year-old daughter with Karen; four children with his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, and two children with his second wife, Caroline Hutton.
However, relations were understood to be strained between Karen and some of the earl’s sons, who were believed to have had doubts about the union.
The Earl is believed to have tried to reassure them but Lady Amelia Spencer, 32, is believed to have banned her father from attending her wedding to Greg Mallett in South Africa in March last year because he insisted on attending with his wife.
Earl Spencer and the Countess are believed to have a prenuptial agreement. In her Instagram post last week, the Countess said: “I look forward to closing this chapter with you all and starting the next.” The Countess has been asked to comment on the matter.
(tags to translate)dailymail
