Charles Spencer and his ex-wife, Karen, have finalised their divorce, but she will still be called Countess Spencer.

Karen Spencer will still be a countess despite her divorce to Charles Spencer (Image: Getty)
Earl Spencer’s ex-wife will get to keep her aristocratic title despite their divorce being finalised because she thinks she deserves it, it has been claimed. Karen Spencer was married to Charles Spencer from 2011 until 2025.

The 53-year-old Canadian entrepreneur is said to be defiant, insisting she deserves to keep the title of Countess Spencer because of the work she has done to improve the Althorp Estate, where the late Diana, Princess of Wales is buried, according to reports. The latest update will reportedly be part of a divorce agreement finalised after nearly two years of negotiation. Charles, 61, and Karen officially separated in June 2024.

The Times reported that the couple’s divorce was finalised last December, but there are still financial details to be decided.

Charles and Karen Spencer at the Whole Child International’s Inaugural Gala in Los Angeles in 2017 (Image: Getty)

If Earl Spencer were to remarry, his new wife would be called The Countess Spencer, while his ex-wife would be known as Karen, Countess Spencer, without ‘the’ as the prefix.

The newspaper said the court had not yet decided how much Earl Spencer would have to pay Karen in a privacy case brought against her by his current girlfriend, Professor Cat Jarman.

Dr Jarman, a Norwegian archaeologist, sued the countess for allegedly revealing private details of her life and telling people that she had been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) without her consent.

In December, the dispute was settled out of court with no admission of liability, but the court ruled that, in part, the funds would be awarded to Charles through the divorce settlement.

In her defence papers, the countess alleged that the earl informed her in March 2024 that “their marriage was over” by a text message.

The Althorp Estate (Image: Getty)

The same month, she also wrote an email to Dr Jarman, accusing her of “turning all the children’s lives upside down” through her “immoral” behaviour.

Karen wrote in the email: “Good luck Cat, you’re in for a hell of a ride. I think that you’ll find having him to deal with full-time will be much trickier than the odd five-day escape to Norfolk and a night or two in London here and there.”

Dr Jarman has said that the countess’s claims are “untrue and defamatory”

Charles Spencer denied having an affair and ending his marriage by text, previously telling 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 March 18, and my reply was a simple acceptance of her decision.”

Neither Charles Spencer, Karen Spencer, nor Dr Jarman has commented on the latest report.