It’s something that wouldn’t seem out of place in a soap opera or the next series of Rivals, but it's real life.
Lady Spencer has claimed Princess Diana’s younger brother Charles Spencer ended their 13-year marriage by text.
Karen Spencer submitted documents as part of her defence in High Court after her ex-husband’s new lover sued her for allegedly misusing information.
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It is claimed that Karen Spencer found out that Charles Spencer and Dr Cat Jarman were reportedly having an affair, and she told her close circle about it, as well as disclosing the fact Dr Jarman has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.
Dr Jarman had wanted to keep her diagnosis private, and had not even told Charles yet before Karen told him and their close friends.
In the court documents, Lady Spencer alleges that on March 19, 2024, Charles 'informed her that their marriage was over', and 'did this by text message'.
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He strenuously denies this, having told the Daily Mail: "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. I have those texts still, and will share them in court when I clear my name."
Lady Spencer’s documents state: “The fact that he finally brought their marriage to an end by text, completely refusing to have any conversation with her in person or even provide an explanation at all, despite her repeated requests over the weeks that followed, was both cruel and inexplicable.”
Karen had previously talked to Dr Jarman’s husband Tom over Zoom, where they compared information and came to the conclusion that they suspected their spouses were having an affair.
Karen believes the alleged affair dated back to 2022, possibly 2021.
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The documents say: “Understandably, Lady Spencer was left shocked and devastated,” adding that 'this news was hideous for Lady Spencer'.
Dr Jarman says Karen found out about the MS diagnosis from 'from someone close to me', and she then told Charles and a number of others.
The documents state that Lady Spencer 'shared the information in question with her immediate family, or close friends and associates, she did so in a way which was entirely justified and legitimate in the circumstances, as part of processing and coming to terms with her husband’s sudden and cruel request for a divorce'.
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It continues: "Alternatively, given these circumstances, [Jarman] had no reasonable expectation of Lady Spencer not discussing the information in question with the limited group of individuals with whom she shared it."
Karen confronted Cat after learning of the alleged affair, after finding out she was 'at the time planning to stay in a house just a few hundred meters away from Lady Spencer’s home for a period of five weeks and have dinner in Althorp House itself while she and her daughter [with Spencer, 12-year-old Charlotte Diana] were still living there'.
“Lady Spencer decided to confront [Cat] about the affair with her husband and explain to her that it would be inappropriate to come and have dinner in her home,” the documents state.
They added that Cat 'did not deny the affair; instead she claimed that she was not the reason for the breakdown of her marriage'.
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In an email allegedly sent from Karen to Dr Jarman, she wrote: “Good luck Cat, you’re in for a hell of a ride.”
Dr Jarman told the Daily Mail: "The stress of this matter, which could have been resolved by Karen Spencer in a few minutes many months ago, further seriously impacts my health," Jarman said. "My full response to this outrage will be with the Courts at the earliest possible opportunity, and at the same time we are urgently looking at all available legal redress, including that relating to the breaking of legally binding oaths."
She told the same publication about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis from 2016: “I thought I would be discriminated against because of it, because it is a disability. I thought it would affect my career, destroy my livelihood, affect the way people regarded me. I did not want to be defined by it, or my career limited by it.
“Since then I have worked very hard indeed to keep my MS hidden, as should be my prerogative. So only a handful of people have known — and Charles wasn’t one of them. I’d been seeing him, romantically, for only two months or three months, and still hadn’t told him,” she continued.
“Karen learned that I have MS. It was also confirmed to her that this was not something that was widely known. And yet she then went to Charles and said, ‘You do know she has MS, don’t you?’” Cat claims, adding: “I’m still not entirely sure who else she shared this private and sensitive information with, which is the point of this legal action.”
The case continues.
Topics: Royal Family, Sex and Relationships
Jen Thomas