Charles Spencer retained the same representation that was on the other side of his sister Princess Diana’s divorce from the future king Charles.
The Times reported on June 9 that the 9th Earl Spencer and younger brother of the late Diana hired Fiona Shackleton to represent him in his recently announced divorce from his wife, Karen Spencer. Shackleton is the same attorney that the then-Prince Charles tapped when he and Princess Diana divorced in 1996. The previous Prince and Princess of Wales separated in 1992 after 11 years of marriage, and their split was finalized the year before she died in a Paris car crash.
Shackleton also represented Prince Andrew in his 1996 divorce from Sarah Ferguson, Paul McCartney in his 2008 divorce from Heather Mills and Princess Haya bint al-Hussein of Jordan in her split from Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum of Dubai.
Queen Elizabeth made the barrister a life peer in 2010, awarding her the title Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia, the Daily Mail reported. Shackleton is a current member of the House of Lords in Parliament and attended the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in May 2018.
News of the Earl Spencer’s legal defense came the day after he announced the divorce to The Mail on Sunday.
“It is immensely sad,” he told the outlet in a piece published on June 8. “I just want to devote myself to all my children and to my grandchildren, and I wish Karen every happiness in the future.”
Charles, 60, and Karen, 52, married on June 18, 2011, and share 12-year-old daughter Charlotte Diana, whose middle name honors her late aunt. Both were previously married. The 9th Earl Spencer has four children with his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, and two children with his second wife, Caroline Freud. Karen has two older daughters from her first marriage to Hollywood producer Mark Gordon.
The Mail on Sunday reported that Charles’ relationship with the Countess of Spencer came to an end amid the writing of his memoir, A very private school. The former couple announced their split to the staff at Althorp House, the Spencer family’s ancestral home where they resided, in April.
The outlet added that Charles, an author and historian, is “becoming close to” Norwegian archaeologist Dr. Cat Jarman, with whom he co-hosts the history podcast The Rabbit Hole Detectives alongside Rev. Richard Coles.
In March, Charles revealed his traumatic experiences at boarding school as a child and his therapy journey later in life in his memoir for the first time.
Speaking exclusively to People, the Earl Spencer opened up about what it meant to have Karen’s support as he put pen to paper.
“Karen has been supportive,” Charles told PEOPLE. “I think it was very challenging for her to have a husband going through what was essentially four and a half years of the most profound therapy with very difficult undertones to it. And she supported the idea of me doing it.”
“I think she always hoped I would come out happier and healthier,” he continued. “And that seems to be the case very much. So I’m grateful to have her standing by me while I went through this, what I now realize was an essential process.”
