Princess Diana’s brother Charles Spencer addresses 18-year-age gap with new girlfriend

Charles Spencer, the younger brother of the late Princess Diana, has opened up about his new relationship with his much-younger girlfriend, Dr. Catrine Jarman.

Earl Spencer, 60, insisted that he “wasn’t looking” for love when he met Jarman, explaining that the duo — who have an 18-year age gap between them — went from “friends” to “colleagues” to lovers.

“[We have] shared interests,” he told the Daily Mail. “We were fascinated by the same things. And she made me laugh. Laughter was key.”

Spencer met the archeologist, 42, in 2021 when she arrived at Althorp, his family’s country estate where his late sister was laid to rest, for work-related reasons.

The pair soon formed a strong friendship, despite Spencer being married to his estranged wife, Countess Karen Spencer, at the time.

In fact, their friendship grew so close that the duo even launched a podcast together called “The Rabbit Hole Detectives” alongside Reverend Richard Coles.

Still, Spencer insists that there was nothing romantic going on between him and Jarman at the time.

“The thing is, I am 18 years older than Cat and so there wasn’t even the possibility,” he told the outlet. “I’ve never been with a much younger person. I wasn’t even thinking romance. I was at the tail end of a marriage. It just wasn’t a possibility.”

“I’ve never tried to do a hard sell on Cat. She’s very canny, very emotionally mature. With her I don’t pretend to be anything I am not. She knows exactly who I am and who I am not,” he added.

“I feel that I’ve got to know Charles very gradually, as a friend, and I know how his life has developed,” Jarman said of her new beau. “I know who he is now. That is all that matters.”

“I’m too old for hearts and flowers stuff, but the best way to describe it is that with Cat, I can be myself,” Spencer chimed in, adding that Jarman “knows who I am.”

“I don’t have to pretend to be something I am not. And she brings out the best in me,” he added.

As for going from friends to lovers, Spencer admits that their connection grew into “something else” in March 2024 — three months before Charles announced his divorce.

“Put it this way, this is a very easy relationship to be in,” he shared. “Sometimes in the past I was trying to make people better, or make people happier. I think I was a people pleaser. I’m much less concerned with that.”

The 9th Earl Spencer said several of his “close friends” have voiced “how happy they are that [he is] with someone like Cat because it shows enormous progress from where [he] was before.”

“Look, it’s good to be with someone who is just so . . . nice. I don’t want to denigrate anyone, but Cat is just completely different to anyone I’ve ever been with before,” he added.

Spencer shares a 12-year-old daughter with Karen, as well as six other children from his previous two marriages.

Jarman, for her part, shares two teenage boys with her ex-husband.

Prior to striking up a romance with Jarman, Spencer was married to Lady Spencer, 52, for 13 years.

He was married to Caroline Freud from 2001 to 2007, and Victoria Aitken from 1989 to 1997.

Last month, Jarman sensationally sued Spencer’s estranged wife.

Spencer’s new girlfriend filed the lawsuit against Lady Spencer on Oct. 10, alleging “misuse of private information.”