All About Princess Diana’s Brother, Charles Spencer, Who Keeps Her Memory Alive

Bailey BujnosekThu, August 13, 2026 at 2:25 PM UTC

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Charles Spencer, Princess Diana’s brother, at a reception in Philadelphia on October 1, 2009.Credit: Getty ImagesThe Gist -

Princess Diana had two older sisters, but it was younger brother Charles Spencer that she was closest to in childhood.

Charles, 9th Earl Spencer, delivered a moving eulogy at his sister’s funeral service in 1997.

He continues to stay in touch with Diana’s two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry, and to honor her legacy in various ways.

Whatever life threw at them, Charles Spencer and sister Princess Diana were always “in it together.”

The youngest child born to John Spencer, 8th Earl Spencer, and Frances Shand Kydd, Charles formed a close-knit bond with Diana early in life—which strengthened as they weathered their parents’ turbulent divorce together. “Diana and I had two older sisters [Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes] who were away at school, so she and I were very much in it together and I did talk to her about (the divorce),” he told The Sunday Times in a 2020 interview.

Charles continued to ground Diana as one of her closest relatives in her adult life. After the royal was killed following a car crash on August 31, 1997, her brother gave a powerful eulogy at her funeral service. He remembered Diana as the “very essence of compassion, of duty, of style, of beauty…[and] a symbol of selfless humanity,” while decrying the invasive media circus she’d faced prior to her death.

Today, the earl keeps Diana’s memory alive through caring for her memorial at their family home, Althorp Estate, discussing her legacy in interviews, and sharing previously unseen photos from their childhood. Charles inherited the Spencer earldom from his father upon the latter’s death in 1992.

He’s also championed the causes that were important to her during her lifetime. “I think that it’s important for people who are under 35, who probably won’t remember her at all, to remember that this is a special person. Not just a beautiful one,” he told People in 2017. Ahead, learn more about Princess Diana’s brother, Charles Spencer, including what he’s up to today.

He’s an author, podcaster, and former journalist.

Earl Charles Spencer at a Piccadilly book signing on August 12, 2004.Credit: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images

Charles wears several hats beyond being an earl. He formerly served as a journalist for NBC’s TODAY and NBC News, according to his professional bio. He’s also written a variety of books, from non-fiction chronicles to the deeply personal 2024 memoir A Very Private School.

Several of his tomes detail the history of his family’s estate, Althorp, where he and Diana spent a portion of her childhood and where he lives today. Diana’s final resting place—the Oval Lake Grave—is located on the grounds, and Charles said in a 2024 appearance on Good Morning Britain that he visits “pretty much every day.”

Since 2023, the earl has co-hosted the The Rabbit Hole Detective Podcast with now-wife Dr. Cat Jarman and Reverend Richard Coles.

He’s described Diana as ‘incredibly brave’ during their childhood.

Lady Diana Spencer with her brother Charles, Viscount Althorp, in 1968.Credit: Central Press/Getty Images

Seeking to combat the myths about Diana that have circulated since she entered the spotlight in the early 1980s, Charles has opened up in interviews about what she was really like as a child. In his 2017 chat with People, he told the outlet he and his family never called Diana “Di” at home—despite the press nicknaming her “Shy Di.”

“In fact, there are so many myths from our childhood that are just so ridiculous,” he continued. “That’s one of them. I just think she was never shy, but she was canny about people and she was reserved to start with. And she would take a judgment of somebody before reacting to them. So, that’s not shy . . . that’s actually quite clever.”

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He added that she was “incredibly brave,” recalling an incident where she handled an eel while she and Charles were catching lobsters. “This thing was really a creature from the deep. And she just dealt with it,” he said.

He feels a ‘duty’ to protect and honor her memory.

Princess Diana greets her brother, Charles Spencer, at the Birthright Ball in 1985.Credit: Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images

Charles takes his role as a protector of Diana’s memory and legacy seriously. Recalling the days immediately after her death to People, he shared, “I was furious, I wasn’t just angry. [I thought] what could I have done. But you always think, God, I wish I could’ve protected her. It was just…it was devastating.”

In the decades since, he’s spoken up on his sister’s behalf in various ways—including denying Netflix’s The Crown access to film at their family’s ancestral home, Althorp. “The worry for me is that people see a program like that and they forget that it is fiction,” he said in a 2020 appearance on Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh, per Today.

“I feel it is my duty to stand up for her when I can,” he added of Diana. “She left me for instance as guardian of her sons [William and Harry]…so I feel there was a trust passed on.” To that end, he’s praised the princes for becoming as kind and personable as their mother was. “I love seeing the sort of uncomplicated way that they deal with people, and put them at their ease. It’s so easy to connect the dots between them and their mother,” he said in a 2017 People interview.

Charles continues to keep in touch with William and Harry, joining them for the unveiling of a commemorative statue of the Princess of Wales in 2021, and hugging Harry at a 2024 event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, Tatler reported.

He’s also worked to champion causes Diana was devoted to, such as the wellbeing of children. In 2021, Charles hosted The Diana Award’s “Legacy Award” ceremony at Althorp, honoring 20 young people from around the world for social action and humanitarian work.

He’s a father of seven.

Earl Charles Spencer with children Amelia, Eliza, Kitty, and Louis in June 2000.Credit: Ken Goff/Getty Images

Princess Diana’s brother isn’t just an uncle to Prince William and Prince Harry—he’s also a father of seven children from his first three marriages. With model Victoria Lockwood, his first wife, Charles shares daughters Kitty, Eliza, and Amelia Spencer and son Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp.

After divorcing Lockwood in 1997, Charles wed Caroline Freud in 2001. They share son Edmund and daughter Lara. With third wife Karen Gordon, Charles welcomed daughter Charlotte Diana in 2012. They announced their separation in 2024. “I just want to devote myself to all my children, and to my grandchildren, and I wish Karen every happiness in the future,” he told The Mail on Sunday at the time, per People.

He married archaeologist Cat Jarman in 2026.

Wedding bells rang in May 2026, as the author married podcast co-host Cat Jarman in an intimate ceremony at Sedona, Arizona’s iconic Cathedral Rock. Jarman is a Norwegian archaeologist who’s researched and written heavily about vikings. She’s also an occasional presenter for BBC Two’s Digging for Britain.

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