Earl Spencer’s estranged wife ‘finally’ moves out of Althorp a year after being ‘dumped by text’
Earl Spencer’s estranged wife has moved out of the family estate, Althorp, almost a year after he allegedly dumped her by text.
Countess Spencer, 52, revealed that she and her daughter had moved into new accommodation and were now waiting for their beloved horses, Lucky and Minty, to join them.
“Well…at long last, three weeks ago, we finally moved into our temporary new home,” she wrote on Instagram. “Still waiting for the horses to arrive – hopefully next week! Doesn’t quite feel like home without them.
“This new chapter is already taking shape.”
Lady Spencer has accused her husband of 13 years of having an affair with Dr Cat Jarman, 43, a Norwegian archaeologist who has conducted various digs at Althorp, the Spencer family estate in Northamptonshire, in recent years.
She has claimed that the Earl, 60, informed her by text message last March that their marriage was over, alleging that he refused to discuss it in person or even to provide an explanation, behaviour that she found “both cruel and inexplicable”.
Dr Jarman is suing the Countess for the misuse of private information, accusing her of sharing her private medical information with an array of friends and employees.
Since lodging legal papers with the High Court in October, she has revealed that she has multiple sclerosis. She told a newspaper she had “worked very hard indeed” to keep it hidden from many people she knew, including the Earl in the early days of their relationship.
Lady Spencer has robustly defended herself against the allegations.
But the legal battle has laid bare a deeply personal marital breakdown as well as a wealth of private correspondence.
Court documents reveal that the Countess accused Dr Jarman of “turning all the children’s lives upside down” through her “immoral” behaviour.
In an email sent to her husband’s partner last May, she said: “First of all as a woman, I just have to tell you that I am so disappointed in you.”
In another missive, she wrote: “Not sure what Charles has shared with you of this, but I won’t have you at Althorp while I still live here.
“That is a boundary I intend to hold. It’s not fair to me, our daughter, or to all the staff, who are already distraught at the news of our divorce though having to serve Charles’ long-term mistress. It’s just too much to ask.”
As such, the Countess is unlikely to have been enamoured by the fact her estranged husband posed for photographs alongside Dr Jarman in the library at Althorp before Christmas – when she was still very much in residence.
The Earl married Karen Gordon, a Canadian philanthropist and founder of the charity Whole Child International, in June 2011.
The ceremony took place in the grounds of Althorp, where the Earl’s elder sister, Diana, Princess of Wales, is buried.
The Earl announced in June that he and the Countess were divorcing.
Asked in October about rumours he had “grown close” to Dr Jarman, he told the Times: “We are close. Well, close enough.”
The pair became acquainted when Dr 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.
In August, the Countess revealed that she was still living at Althorp but was looking forward to her next chapter. Three months later, she admitted it had not been easy to find a rental home that could accommodate seven horses, two sheep, four cats, and a dog.
Although she had found a new home, the process appears to have been delayed, meaning she did not move out until the end of January.
