Princess Diana’s brother kept a “long-term lover” before leaving his wife “helpless and confused” via text message, court documents allege.
Earl Spencer then “completely refused” to give any explanation to Countess Karen Spencer which she found “cruel and inexplicable”.
She accuses her husband of having had an affair since 2022 “and more likely since 2021” with Dr Cat Jarman, an archaeologist digging for a Roman villa at their ancestral home in Althorp, where he grew up with Diana.
High Court documents reveal an email the “shocked and devastated” Countess Spencer wrote to her husband’s girlfriend saying: “Firstly, as a woman, I just have to say that I am very disappointed in you.” Turning every child’s life upside down like this is incredibly immoral.’
She signed off her message in May this year by saying: “Good luck Cat, you’re in for an amazing ride.” I think you’ll find that having to deal with it full time will be a lot more complicated than a five-day getaway to Norfolk and a night or two in London here and there.
The allegations form part of Countess Spencer’s defense in an explosive High Court privacy case brought against her by Dr Jarman.
Earl Spencer and Lady Karen Spencer (pictured June 2018) announced their separation in June.
Earl Spencer confirmed his relationship with Dr. Cat Jarman (pictured together) in October.
The count’s 42-year-old archaeologist girlfriend, 60, is suing his ex-wife, 52, accusing her of revealing private details about his life.
Earl Spencer tonight said his ex-wife’s claims were an “absurd attempt to blacken my name”, while Dr Jarman said she was “shocked and completely dismayed” and accused the countess of staging a “appalling and defamatory” against her.
“I can understand that she finds it difficult because he moved on before her, but the narrative that Charles, or I, did something wrong here is simply not true.
‘I feel sympathy for her. I understand what you have lost, because it is more than your marriage and your home. But this still doesn’t justify what he did.
But in her defence, Countess Spencer says her revelations were “completely justified and legitimate” given the way she was treated.
The Canadian-born social entrepreneur became Spencer’s third wife in 2011 and they have an 11-year-old daughter, Lady Charlotte Diana.
The count informed her on March 19 of this year that “their marriage had ended after almost 13 years.”
He did so by text message,” his defense documents say, adding: “Having given up his life in the United States to live in rural Northamptonshire and devote himself to fixing the Althorp Estate business, in addition to having When was a girl, the news was frightening for Lady Spencer.
Princess Diana kisses her brother Earl Spencer outside a restaurant in London in 1990
When Countess Spencer compared notes with Dr. Jarman’s husband, Tom Jarman, she “discovered that their affair had been going on since at least November/December 2022, when the two were together in Norfolk (although it is more likely since 2021)” , the defense states.
During the excavation, the archaeologist and her team stayed at the Althorp estate and had dinner at the house.
In her email to Dr Jarman, the Countess wrote: “I’m not sure what Charles has shared with you about this, but I will not accept you at Althorp while I live here.” That is a limit I intend to maintain. It’s not fair to me, our daughter, or the entire staff, who are already shocked by the news of our divorce despite having to serve Charles’s longtime lover. It’s too much to ask.
The earl, who has been married three times and has had a colorful and well-documented love life, and the countess announced their separation in June, and he publicly confirmed his relationship with Dr Jarman in October.
In his girlfriend’s legal suit against his wife (they remain married until divorce), she alleges that she was shocked when the countess revealed her private information to her.
In her interview with the Mail, Dr Jarman said: ‘I have worked very hard to keep my MS hidden, as should be my prerogative. So only a handful of people knew, and Charles wasn’t one of them.
“I had been seeing him romantically for only two or three months and I still hadn’t told him. It’s hard, isn’t it, to know when you reveal something like that.
‘Some people do it from the beginning, but I decided not to. And I emphasize that it was my choice. Your medical history is the most private.
Earl Spencer and Lady Karen Spencer at Harry and Meghan’s wedding in Windsor in 2018
She alleges that Spencer’s wife ‘found out from someone close to me’ and ‘in the course of a conversation about whether she had been having an affair with her husband, which I can categorically say she was not, we were very much just friends’. and colleagues until the marriage ended: Karen found out I have MS.
‘It was also confirmed to him that this was not something that was widely known. And yet he then approached Charles and said, ‘You know he has MS, right?’
The legal action is at an early stage and has not yet gone to trial.
Countess Spencer is fighting the case, and her defense papers say: “For the avoidance of doubt, Lady Spencer has every right to continue to explain (where relevant or necessary) that (Dr Jarman) and her husband had an affair. and that’s why she wanted a divorce and offered no explanation for doing so in such a callous and inexplicable manner after 13 years of marriage.’
Countess Spencer has repeatedly refused to comment on the breakdown of her marriage and the resulting legal action against her.
His friends say he wants to take the case to court, using publicly available documents and evidence.
Last night Dr Jarman said: “I am shocked and completely dismayed that my legitimate attempt to stop the illegal spread of my status as a person with multiple sclerosis – a protected disability – has been hijacked in such an appallingly false manner.
—It appears that Karen Spencer is not preparing a legal defense for my legitimate action, but rather has stooped to launching a horrific and defamatory attack on Charles and me.
Dr Jarman is an archaeologist who had excavated for a Roman villa at Earl Spencer’s Althorp ancestral home in Northamptonshire (pictured), where he grew up with Princess Diana.
“Meanwhile, the stress of this issue, which Karen Spencer could have resolved in a few minutes many months ago, is affecting my health even more severely. Stress is a well-known factor in MS.
“My full response to this outrage will be in court as soon as possible and at the same time we are urgently considering all available legal remedies, including those related to the breaking of legally binding oaths.”
Earl Spencer added: “The idea that I would end my marriage via text message is an absurd attempt to blacken my name.” Karen ended the marriage, after endless threats to do so over the years, in early March.
‘She asked me to confirm the end of the marriage in a text on March 18 and my response that day was a simple acceptance of her decision. I still have those text messages and I will share them in court when I clear my name.