Earl Spencer’s new partner in legal battle with his estranged wife

Court claims over ‘misuse of private data’ emerge after announcement of divorce proceedings

The new partner of Princess Diana’s brother is suing his estranged wife for misuse of private information.
Prof Catrine Jarman, 42, a Norwegian archaeologist specialising in the Vikings, has lodged a claim against Karen Spencer, 52, Earl Spencer’s third wife.
The misuse of private information claim was filed on Thursday but no further details are available.
Prof Jarman is represented by legal firm Simons Muirhead Burton, which declined to comment. Countess Spencer appears to be representing herself.
Earl Spencer, 60, married Karen Gordon, a Canadian philanthropist and founder of the charity Whole Child International, in June 2011. The Earl announced that they were divorcing in June this year.
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 the Earl’s elder sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, is buried. Together they share one daughter, 12-year-old Lady Charlotte Diana.
“It is immensely sad,” he said. “I just want to devote myself to all my children, and to my grandchildren, and I wish Karen every happiness in the future.”
It later emerged that he had hired Fiona Shackleton, the prominent divorce lawyer who represented the then Prince Charles during his split from Princess Diana, and is known as “the steel magnolia”.
In August, Countess Spencer revealed that she was still living at Althorp. She said in a statement that she no longer had access to her newsletter mailing list and asked her followers to sign up to a new website that she hoped to launch this autumn.
The Earl and Prof Jarman broke their silence about their romance last week.
Asked about rumours they had “grown close”, the Earl told The Times: “We are close. Well, close enough.”
The pair became acquainted when Prof Jarman was searching for the remains of an ancient Roman villa in Althorp’s grounds for a Channel 4 documentary. They co-host a podcast called The Rabbit Hole Detectives, which began last year, alongside the broadcaster Rev Richard Coles.
The Earl joked of his dynamic with Prof Jarman: “We’re not that domestic really, are we? No, I mean, I love Richard just as much, but just in a different way.”
The trio published a book of the same name this week, with Prof Jarman writing on Instagram on Thursday, just as her legal claim was lodged: “Happy publication day to my fellow Rabbit Hole Detectives.”
She is said to be separated from her husband, with whom she shares two children.
Earl Spencer’s marriage to the Countess was seemingly blissfully happy a few years ago.
In 2020, the Earl, who has seven children, said: “Karen and I both appreciate what the other does and look after what we have. Neither of us has found happiness like this before.”
His wife, however, was notable by her absence at events held at Althorp and Spencer House in London in mid-March as the Earl launched his book, A Very Private School.
The Earl revealed at the time that the five years he spent working on his memoir had deeply affected him and led to him undergoing residential treatment for trauma late last year.
In the book, he reveals he was sexually abused as a child by a female staff member when he was at boarding school.
Countess Spencer, born Karen Villeneuve, was first married to Mark Gordon, the Hollywood producer, with whom she has two daughters.
She said in her August statement: “I look forward to closing this chapter out with you all and launching the next. I will be sharing an update on my projects and reflecting on all the wonderful things I have learned during my time here on this beautiful estate.”
She promised what she called “a deeper dive” for “those of you who enjoy more detail”.
Discussing the excavation at Althorp, she went on: “Many of you have been asking what we found when we did the excavation. You won’t believe it! Can’t wait to share.”
The Earl decided to excavate in 2021 following a lifelong interest in the story of the Roman villa on the grounds of his estate. Jarman revealed that November that her team had spent three weeks at Althorp digging trenches.
In May 2023, the Earl revealed that Prof Jarman’s team had returned for a further three weeks
“Amazing to think of those long-ago folk enjoying Althorp, 1,000 or so years before my family first farmed here in the 1480s,” he wrote on Instagram. “This team was assembled by my fellow Rabbit Hole Detective podcaster Cat Jarman… such a professional, upbeat, and utterly charming group.”
In another post, he wrote: “First located a century ago, it has remained an enigma ever since. Thanks to a brilliant team of experts, we’re now one step closer to unlocking the secrets of the people who lived at Althorp more than a millennium before my family settled here.”