Earl Spencer’s new partner Cat Jarman reveals MS diagnosis – and why she’s suing his estranged wife

The new partner of Princess Diana’s brother, Earl Spencer, has revealed that she has multiple sclerosis, and has filed a lawsuit against his estranged wife for allegedly spreading the private diagnosis.

Dr Cat Jarman and Countess Spencer are preparing for a High Court clash after the archaeologist accused the countess of revealing her medical diagnosis without consent.

The alleged disclosures include Lord Spencer, staff at his Althorp estate, one of Dr Jarman’s TV colleagues, the countess’s personal trainer, and teachers at the Spencers’ daughter’s private school.

It is understood that Lady Spencer denies these claims.

Speaking about her diagnosis for the first time on Wednesday, archaeologist Dr Jarman said: “I have multiple sclerosis. I was diagnosed eight years ago, when I was in the final stages of doing my PhD. I woke one morning with crippling pins and needles, shooting pains in my spine, as if I was being tasered.”

Professor Jarman continued: “I completely lost the power of my right hand – I couldn’t even hold a pen. My body simply stopped working. It took nine months to be able to use my hand again. I’m now on strong medication, and everything is kept at bay, but the problem with MS is that you live not knowing if you are going to have a relapse.”

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Upon receiving the life-changing news, she described being “utterly devastated”.

She said: “I thought I would be discriminated against because of it, because it is a disability. I thought it would affect my career, destroy my livelihood, affect the way people regarded me. I did not want to be defined by it, or my career be limited by it.”

Consequently, she said she had worked hard to keep her MS hidden from all but a handful of people. “And Charles wasn’t one of them,” she said.

“I’d been seeing him, romantically, for only two months or three months, and still hadn’t told him. It’s hard, isn’t it, knowing when you reveal something like that. Some people do from the off, but I chose not to. And I stress that it was my choice. Your medical history is the most private thing.”

After splitting from Lady Spencer in March, Lord Spencer and Dr Jarman, who host a podcast together, became close when she was conducting a dig at his Althorp estate in Northamptonshire in search of a lost medieval village. The pair’s relationship was revealed in October.

The Norwegian professor, named Nordic Person of the Year 2024 in Scandinavia, alleged Lady Spencer found out about her diagnosis from someone close to the archaeologist and went on to tell Lord Spencer in May among “a string of people”.

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Dr Jarman said: “I just felt utterly sick. I went into a panic, particularly over the implications for my career. It has been the most stressful time, and with MS you are told that it is most important to avoid stress.”

Dr Jarman launched legal action against the countess in October, alleging she had suffered “distress, upset and embarrassment” as a result of the leaking of “intimate secrets”.

A report on the court documents said: “Dr Jarman did not, at any time, provide her consent to the countess to disclose that information to any third party or intimate anything to that effect. This lack of consent should have been obvious to the countess, given the nature of the private information and the circumstances in which it was imparted.”

When these details were recently reported in the press, Dr Jarman said she felt compelled to speak out.

It is understood that Lady Spencer denies these allegations.

Dr Jarman is seeking damages, as well as an injunction preventing Lady Spencer from telling more people and a complete list of those who have already been told.

The Independent has approached representatives of both Lady Spencer and Dr Jarman for comment.