Earl Charles Spencer has married his fourth wife, Cat Jarman, and meeting her was certainly a turning point in his life.
The couple initially confirmed their romance in October 2024 and tied the knot in Arizona on May 15, 2026, sharing intimate photos from their desert wedding on the day.
Reflecting on their wedding, a source exclusively told New Idea that the family are overjoyed for the couple, given Cat has no doubt transformed Charles’ life for the better.
“There wasn’t a dry eye when they exchanged vows because this romance feels like the universe’s quiet gift,” they tell us.
“There’s a new softness to Charles too – he’s much more relaxed and his confidence comes from the heart, not the ego. She’s been very good for him and could be the key that settles down some of those family clashes.”
Their love story also has a poignant link to Charles’ sister, Princess Diana, as they actually met at Althorp Estate, the family home and resting place of the late Princess of Wales.
“Charles has always said Althorp became a place of sadness for him after losing Diana, but meeting Cat there slowly turned it into a place of hope and new beginnings,” the source continues.
“They bonded over history, shared long walks across the estate and found real comfort in each other.
“There’s something poetic about new love blooming right beside such deep family loss. He’s admitted he was in a dark place when they met, but her passion for the past, her warmth and the fact she had zero connection to his complicated royal world was exactly what he needed.”
The pair famously met on the estate when Charles was asked to review Cat’s non-fiction book River Kings. The pair went on to co-host a podcast and even did an archaeological dig together at Althorp to excavate a lost Roman villa.
Certainly, the story was like “something out of a Hollywood script”.
“Cat was the most impressive woman he’d ever met. An archaeologist Professor passionate about pulling her sleeves up and uncovering history, something that’s always been an obsession for Charles,” our source adds.
Their wedding came five months after the divorce from his third wife, Countess Karen Spencer, was finalised in December 2025. They announced the divorce in October 2024.
Before this, Charles was married to Victoria Lockwood from 1989 to 1997, and they share children Lady Catherine Spencer, Lady Elizabeth Spencer, Lady Amelia Spencer, and Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp.
He then welcomed his son, The Honourable Edmund Spencer, and daughter, Lady Lara Caroline Spencer, with his second wife, Caroline Freud. The pair wed in 2001 and split in 2006, before Caroline was granted a divorce in 2007.
The Earl then married Karen in 2011. They share Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer, who was born in 2012.
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