Charles Spencer’s estranged wife and new girlfriend embroiled in bitter $2.6M legal clash

Charles Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana, is stuck in the middle of a bitter legal spat between his estranged wife and his much-younger new girlfriend.

Countess Karen Spencer, 52, who was married to Earl Spencer, 61, from 2011 to 2024, was slapped with a $2.6 million lawsuit by his new flame, Professor Catrine Jarman.

The High Court suit, filed against Lady Spencer in October 2024, alleged that she had “misused” private medical information.

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Jarman, 42, claims that she was forced to reveal her multiple sclerosis diagnosis in a high-profile interview in a desperate bid to silence online gossip — adding that she had “worked very hard” to keep her health battle under wraps up until that point, GB News reports.

The aristocrat’s new flame, whom he met in 2021, further claimed she had kept her MS diagnosis hidden from those nearest and dearest to her, including the earl himself.

In her filing, Jarman said she decided to reveal her health condition in an interview with the Daily Mail after becoming concerned about “loss of autonomy and control” over her own medical history.

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Lady Spencer, for her part, countered the claim, saying that her estranged husband’s new girlfriend’s decision to go public with her medical information was “hopelessly inconsistent” with her legal case.

“Deliberately disclosing the fact that she has MS to the world in a manner calculated to give it maximum publicity is not only entirely inconsistent with any claim to privacy, but it also nullifies the ostensible purpose of these proceedings,” her legal team said in response.

On Monday, the women reached an agreement on future estimated legal costs, which are upward of $2.6 million.

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The Post has reached out to reps for Earl Spencer for comment.

The 9th Earl Spencer announced he was divorcing Karen, his third wife, in June 2024.

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Charles met the Canadian social entrepreneur and philanthropist on a blind date in Los Angeles in 2010. They tied the knot the following year at Althorp, the Spencer family’s ancestral home and the final resting place of Princess Diana, who died in 1997.

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The exes share one child, daughter Lady Charlotte Diana, 12.

Charles is also father to six other children from his previous two marriages. He shares four kids with his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, and two with his second wife, Caroline Freud. 

In November 2024, Spencer opened up about his relationship with Jarman, saying he “wasn’t even thinking romance” when the pair had met.