Princess Diana‘s brother, Charles Spencer, is embracing new beginnings. The 9th Earl Spencer, 61, married archaeologist and podcast co-host Professor Cat Jarman, 43.
The couple tied the knot in a private ceremony in Sedona, Arizona, on Friday, May 15, with Cathedral Rock serving as the stunning natural backdrop, as confirmed by People.
Inside Charles Spencer And Cat Jarman’s Intimate Arizona Ceremony: See Photos
Spencer and Jarman marked the moment with a joint statement that captured exactly how their relationship had unfolded over the years. “We both feel so incredibly lucky to have progressed from being colleagues, to friendship, to deep love and connection,” the couple said in a statement shared with People magazine.
“Each stage of our relationship has been underpinned by laughter, and we share a passion for life.“
Inside Charles Spencer and Cat Jarman’s Love Story
Their story began not with a glance across a room but with a book review. Charles, who has authored nine books of his own, was asked to review Jarman’s 2021 nonfiction bestseller “River Kings,” a work centered on her specialist subject of Viking history.
What started as a professional courtesy quietly grew into something far deeper.
The two began collaborating on archaeological digs together.
Their collaboration extended beyond archaeology. Together with Rev. Richard Coles, the couple co-hosted “The Rabbit Hole Detectives,” a history podcast that brought their mutual passion for the past to a wider audience.
By October 2024, Charles made their relationship official.
Speaking to The Times in October 2024, he kept it characteristically understated. “We are close,” he said simply.
Charles Spencer’s Previous Marriages and the Family He Has Built Over the Years
Charles has been married three times before. He first married model Victoria Lockwood in 1989. That marriage lasted until 1997, and they had four children together—Lady Kitty Spencer, Lady Eliza Spencer, Lady Amelia Spencer, and Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp.
He then married Caroline Freud in 2001, a union that ended in 2007. The couple welcomed two children together. The Hon. Edmund “Ned” Spencer and Lady Lara Spencer.
His third marriage to Karen Spencer, a Canadian philanthropist, took place at the family’s historic Althorp House in 2011.
In June 2024, Charles and Karen announced their divorce after 13 years together. The proceedings were finalized in December 2025. Their daughter, 13-year-old Lady Charlotte Diana Spencer, remains the couple’s shared priority.
Across his three previous marriages, Charles is the father of seven children.
Jarman, meanwhile, was previously married to Tom Jarman and is the mother of two sons.
Charles Spencer and Princess Diana: The Bond Between a Brother and His Beloved Sister
Few moments in modern royal history were as raw or as unforgettable as the eulogy Charles Spencer delivered for his older sister at Westminster Abbey on September 6, 1997, just six days after Princess Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris on August 31.
He stood at the pulpit before a watching world and spoke with a grief that was impossible to manufacture and impossible to forget.
GettyIn the years that followed, Charles was open about the weight he carried in the aftermath of Diana’s death.
“You always think, God, I wish I could’ve protected her. It was just … it was devastating,” he told People magazine in 2017. “I always felt … intensely protective towards her.”
That protectiveness did not end with her passing. In the decades since Diana’s death, Charles has remained one of the most consistent and vocal guardians of her memory, speaking out against those he felt misrepresented her story and championing the causes she held closest to her heart.
