Earl Spencer has employed the identical high-profile divorce lawyer who misplaced his sister Diana’s HRH title when she separated from the then Prince Charles.
The Mail on Sunday solely revealed yesterday the Earl’s relationship together with his third spouse the Countess of Spencer had damaged down.
He has now moved to rent £550 per hour ‘demon negotiator’ Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia to characterize him, reported The Sunday Instances.
Referred to as the ‘Metal Magnolia’ for her attraction and dedication, Fiona Shackleton, 67, suggested Charles throughout his bitter divorce battle in 1996, which noticed Princess Diana lose her HRH title.
Such was her devastation on the lack of the title, Prince William, then 14 years outdated, reportedly instructed her: ‘Don’t be concerned Mummy, I’ll give it again to you in the future when I’m King.’
She has beforehand represented A-list stars similar to Paul McCartney, Liam Gallagher and Madonna throughout their costly and closely spotlighted splits.
The Mail on Sunday solely revealed Earl Spencer’s relationship together with his third spouse the Countess of Spencer had damaged down
He has now moved to rent £550 per hour ‘demon negotiator’ Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia to characterize him
Earl Spencer’s 13-year marriage to Karen Gordon, a Canadian philanthropist, broke down amid the pressure of writing his harrowing memoir detailing the bodily and sexual abuse he suffered at boarding college, it’s understood.
The couple introduced their pending divorce to workers at Althorp, the Spencer household property in Northamptonshire, in March.
‘It’s immensely unhappy,’ Earl Spencer, 60, instructed the MoS final week.
‘I simply wish to commit myself to all my kids, and to my grandchildren, and I want Karen each happiness sooner or later.’
The couple married in June 2011 inside the grounds of Althorp, the place Diana is buried. The couple had met the earlier 12 months on a blind date at a restaurant in Los Angeles.
Chatting with The Sunday Instances in 2020, the Earl stated: ‘Karen and I each admire what the opposite does and take care of what we’ve got. Neither of us has discovered happiness like this earlier than.’
His spouse was notable by her absence at occasions held at Althorp and Spencer Home in London in mid-March to launch the Earl’s ebook, A Very Personal College.
Charles Spencer instructed the MoS that the 5 years of labor on his memoir has deeply affected him and led to him present process residential remedy for trauma late final 12 months.
He’s understood to have been significantly traumatised by his discovery of his 1976 schoolboy diary, by which the assistant matron, who he alleges sexually abused him, had written a long-forgotten message.
Fiona Shackleton suggested the then Prince Charles throughout his divorce to Diana in 1996 (Charles and Diana pictured on the Balmoral Property earlier than their marriage ceremony in 1981)
Charles married his second spouse Caroline Freud in 2001 however the pair acquired a divorce in 2009
Charles and his first spouse Victoria Lockwood acquired married in 1989 after which divorced in 1997
The diary was found on the excessive shelf of a room at Althorp that was being refurbished after he accomplished the primary physique of his ebook.
Earl Spencer wrote he was ‘rocked’ by the invention and described how the lady, who The Mail on Sunday recognized as 67-year-old grandmother Sally Jane Carr, has merely written ‘Me’ alongside along with her tackle and phone quantity.
A lawyer for Carr stated she ‘vehemently denies all allegations of any abuse being carried out by her to the Earl and another particular person by any means’.
‘There’s something concerning the phrase, ‘Me’, that strikes me now as not solely wildly inappropriate, however intensely intimate – and, after all, slyly nameless.’
Baroness Shackleton negotiated a £17 million settlement for Diana and the Princess agreed to cowl the authorized prices of her divorce.
It was additionally agreed that Diana would see William and Harry each 5 weekends.
Her profitable dealing with of the case earned Shackleton reward and Charles continued to utilise her providers till 2005.
‘The phrases of the divorce have been extreme,’ says Seward, whose new ebook, My Mom and I, primarily based on the connection between King Charles and his late mom, is printed by Simon and Schuster.
‘If Diana wished to go away the nation on something that might be described as official enterprise, she needed to get particular permission.
‘Her actions have been restricted and he or she wasn’t allowed to take an extraordinary job to earn cash.’
Baroness Fiona Shackleton is a divorce specialist. Her most notable shoppers have been King Charles in 1996 and Prince Andrew in 1996
Charles and Fiona Shackleton seem in excessive spirits whereas attending an exhibition in London, 2000
Prince William and Prince Harry each proceed to make use of Shackleton as their Private Solicitor
Baroness Shackleton additionally represented Prince Andrew throughout his divorce from Sarah, Duchess of York that very same 12 months.
Andrew paid out £3 million in a divorce settlement in Could 1996.
Baroness Shackleton attended the marriage of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in 2018 along with her husband, fellow Exeter alumnus, Ian Shackleton.
In 2010, Queen Elizabeth II made Shackleton a life peer, giving her the title, Baroness Shackleton of Belgravia.
She sits as a Conservative member within the Home of Lords.
