Earl Spencer and ex-wife Karen finalise divorce after two year battle

Earl Spencer and his third wife, Karen, have finalised their divorce after nearly two years.

Their divorce, after 13 years of marriage, was settled in December but has now been reported for the first time, by The Times.

Financial details between the former couple, who have a daughter, are yet to be agreed upon, the publication reports.

Karen, 53, will be able to continue to style herself as a countess.

But if Earl Spencer re-marries, his new wife would become the Countess Spencer and Karen would be known as Karen, Countess Spencer, without the 'the'.

Charles Spencer, 61, is dating Professor Cat Jarman, 43, a Norwegian archaeologist.

In December, Countess Spencer agreed to settle a privacy claim brought by Prof Jarman who accused her of sharing private medical information.

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Prof Jarman had sued the countess alleging she had revealed her multiple sclerosis diagnosis to friends and employees.

The case was settled out of court with no admission of liability.

Details of the breakdown of their marriage was revealed during the court proceedings.

Countess Spencer had accused her estranged husband of having an affair with Prof Jarman and alleged that he had informed her by text message in March, 2024, that their marriage was over.

She alleged Earl Spencer was "completely refusing" to discuss it in person or even to provide an explanation. She described the behaviour as "both cruel and inexplicable".

In response, Spencer said his wife had ended their marriage.

"The notion that I would end my marriage by text is an absurd attempt to blacken my name," he said.

"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 March 18 and my reply was a simple acceptance of her decision," he added.

Earl Spencer married Karen Gordon, a Canadian philanthropist, in June 2011.

The couple had met in 2010 on a blind date at a restaurant in Los Angeles and were married in the grounds of Althorp, where Earl Spencer's sister, the late Diana, Princess of Wales, is buried.

They have one daughter, Lady Charlotte Diana, 14.

In 2024, Countess Spencer moved out of the couple's former home.

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