Scandal-hit life of Earl Spencer – marriage ‘affairs’ to lurid row over best man’s WIFE & losing virginity to sex worker

WHEN it comes to heartless words, Earl Spencer has been accused of uttering some truly harsh ones. In one letter to his sister Princess Diana he accused her of “manipulation and deceit” and the aristocrat allegedly described his anorexic first wife Victoria as “thin and certainly thick.” King Charles with Earl Spencer Credit: PA The Earl’s third wife Karen Spencer with her then husband in 2018 Credit: Getty Now, the Earl has caused a major Royal row by claiming in his new book: Swan Song: Diana, My Sister, that King Charles said “we’ll soon forget Diana soon enough” in the wake of her tragic death in a Paris car crash in 1997. He has claimed that King Charles “sounded giddily elated” when he called him after his death in 1997. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! In an unprecedented response, a spokesman for the monarch suggested “fraternal grief can cloud reason and colour memory”. It may come as a surprise to some people who have crossed paths with the four-times-married Earl that he has chosen to take the moral high ground. He allegedly dumped one of his wives via text, missed two of his children’s weddings, was accused of seducing the wife of his best man while the best man was in prison, while his turbulent marriages have been the subject of ‘cheating’ storms. Earl Spencer has been described by the publisher of his new book Swan Song: Diana, My Sister “a loving brother and an acclaimed memoirist as well as a celebrated historian.” The book will focus mainly on the events surrounding the death of his sister Diana. The Earl’s own history would make for an equally enthralling blockbuster, although recollections certainly vary about his colourful life. Most read in The Sun As do the extent to which he was close to Diana prior to her death. The book is supposed to be told from “a vantage point of intimacy”, but the Earl admitted he had “rather lost touch” with sister for a decade and a half. Princess Diana kissing her brother in 1990 Credit: Rex Earl Spencer with his first wife Victoria Credit: Getty In a letter to Diana a year before she died, he wrote: “After years of neglect on both sides, our relationship is the weakest I have with any of my sisters. “I long ago accepted that I was a peripheral part of your life, and that no longer saddens me. “I will always be there for you, as a loving brother – albeit one who has, through 15 years’ absence, rather lost touch.” Charles Spencer’s early life was a troubled one. He sought counselling to deal with the emotional impact of the divorce of his parents the 8th Earl Spencer and Frances Shand Kydd. His father had a violent temper and Diana once recalled “seeing my father slap my mother across the face.” Charles had a terrible time at private school, where he claimed to have been beaten by other boys. In his memoir A Very Private School he says he lost his virginity to a sex worker while on a family trip aged 12. Darius Guppy was best man for Charles Spencer’s marriage to Victoria Credit: Alpha Photo Press Agency Caroline Freud, his second wife, with Charles Credit: News Group Newspapers Ltd But it seemed like he had settled down when he married Vogue model Victoria Lockwood in 1989. They had four children together – Kitty, 35, twins Eliza and Katya, both 34, and Louis, 32. But it was claimed in court that Charles had an affair with another woman while Victoria was pregnant with their first child. During their relationship she struggled with anorexia, alcoholism and drug addiction. In their bitter divorce battle in 1997, it was claimed in court that the Earl’s father had told him a married couple should stick together during “thick and thin.” To which, Charles is said to have replied that Victoria was “thin and certainly thick.” The court in South Africa also heard that he’d described himself as a “vicious, cruel and a bully” to Victoria in a letter to a girlfriend. Charles denied all these claims. Earl Spencer with his current wife Cat Jarman Credit: Caitlyn Jennings/Selfie by Cat Spencer Earl Spencer’s daughters Kitty, Eliza and Katya at Prince William’s wedding Credit: Reuters His relationship with the best man at his wedding to Victoria did not fare much better. Darius Guppy, a friend from Eton College, alleged that Charles had a fling with his wife Patricia while he was in prison. Guppy, who served time for a faked gem theft, said: “There are things that friends just don’t do” and the pair got into a physical fight. Charles has always denied wrongdoing. Diana is said to been close to Victoria. That it seems, was not entirely the case with Charles and his sister. In a letter to his sister, revealed by her former butler Paul Burrell, he wrote: “I fear for you. I know how manipulation and deceit are parts of the illness. “I pray that you are getting appropriate and sympathetic treatment for your mental problems.” His next marriage to Caroline Freud lasted for six years, ending in 2007. They had two children, Ned, 22, and Lara, 20. Charles left the marital home when Lara was just four months old, having fallen for an American journalist. Next up was former model Lady Bianca Eliot, who he proposed to in 2010 and was 12 years his junior. Earl Spencer at Diana’s funeral procession with Charles, William, Harry and Phlip Credit: Exclusive picture by Jon Bond copyright holder The engagement, though, was over before the year was out. One friend said at the time: “The wedding has been called off after a series of rows and heated exchanges.” Shortly afterwards he met model Karen Gordon, the daughter of a Canadian park ranger, at a cocktail party. This time the union was to result in wedding bells, with the pair tying the knot in 2011 and having a daughter Charlotte aged 14. The marriage was to end in public rancour two years ago, with Karen alleging that her husband was having an affair with archaeologist Dr Cat Jarman. In court papers, Karen claimed that she had learned in a “text message” that Charles was leaving her. She said her husband had been “cruel” by not explaining why their marriage was over. Charles denied Karen’s claims, saying: “The notion that I would end my marriage by text 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 of 18 March and my reply that day was a simple acceptance of her decision.” Having accepted the relationship was over, Karen sent a message in May 2024 saying: “Good luck Cat, you’re in for a hell of a ride. I think that you’ll find having him to deal with full-time will be much trickier than the odd five-day escape to Norfolk and a night or two in London here and there.” When Charles married Dr Jarman, a co-host of his history podcast The Rabbit Holes detectives, in the same month it was a quiet affair in Arizona without guests. Charles was also absent from two of his daughters’ biggest days. He missed Kitty’s wedding in Rome in 2021 and Amelia getting hitched in 2023. Charles, though, did appear to be content with his fourth wife. He said: “She knows who I am. Who I really am. I don’t have to pretend to be something I am not. And she brings out the best in me.” Whether Charles’s latest book will reveal the real him is sure to be much debated. Comment now