Charles Spencer’s estranged wife, Karen Spencer has accused him of ending their 13-year marriage through a text message to be with his “long-term mistress.”
According to court documents obtained by People, Karen claimed that Charles, 60, had been involved in an affair since 2022 — “and more likely since 2021” — with Dr. Cat Jarman, his new girlfriend.
These allegations were part of Karen’s defense against Jarman’s explosive High Court privacy case, in which she accused Countess Spencer of misusing private information.
In the October filing, Jarman, 42, alleged that Karen, 52, disclosed personal details about her multiple sclerosis diagnosis, which she had kept private.
However, Karen contended that she was “justified” in discussing information about Jarman due to the archeologist’s relationship with her now-estranged husband.“
Additionally, in the documents, Karen alleged that Charles “informed her that their marriage was over” on March 19, 2024 — and “did this by text message.”
The Countess stated that Charles’ behavior “had been uncaring and deliberately provocative” in the lead-up to their split, yet she still believed he would have the decency to discuss matters in person.
“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,” the documents noted.
Karen claimed she uncovered Charles’ alleged affair with Cat after reaching out to her husband, Tom Jarman, according to the outlet.
During an April Zoom call, the two spouses compared notes, with Karen inquiring if Tom was “suspicious of an affair” — and he allegedly was.
Jarman sued Karen for misuse of private information in October.
After “they compared the accounts,” Karen and Tom supposedly “discovered that their affair had been going on since at least November/December 2022 when the two of them were together in Norfolk (although more likely since 2021).”
Included in the court documents was an email Karen sent to Cat, in which Lady Spencer told the scholar she was not welcome at their home while she lived there with her and Charles’ 12-year-old daughter, Charlotte Diana.
“That is a boundary I intend to hold,” Karen wrote in the email, according to the Daily Mail. “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.”
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