Lady Kitty Spencer married on this day. Why was her father missing?

It is two years since glamorous Lady Kitty Spencer married a multi-millionaire. But why was her father – Princess Diana’s brother – MISSING from the star-studded Italian wedding?

• Thirty-year-old Kitty wed fashion tycoon Michael, 62, on this day
• Brothers Louis, Viscount Althorp and Samuel Aitken walked her down aisle
• For all the latest Royal news, pictures and videos click here

It was, she later said, the proudest moment of her life. 

Kitty Spencer, niece of Princess Diana, walked down the aisle accompanied by her three brothers on this day two years ago in one of the most glamorous weddings of the year.

Lady Kitty, then 30, wed the South African-born multi-millionaire Michael Lewis at the Villa Aldobrandini in Frascati, a stunning country mansion with views out towards Rome, on July 24, 2021.

Having delayed their wedding for two years due to the pandemic, the celebrations stretched across three days and were attended by close friends including the pop star Pixie Lott and the Marchioness of Bath. 

Lady Kitty Spencer, then 30, tied the knot with South African business tycoon Michael Lewis, 62, in Italy on this day two years ago on July 24, 2021

She was walked down the aisle by her brother Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, now 29, and half-brother Samuel Aitken, whose father is businessman Jonathan Aitken, 20, (pictured)

Yet if there was intrigue about the age gap between Diana’s niece and her 62-year- old groom, a still more pressing question was this: where was her father, Diana’s brother Charles.

The 59-year-old Earl was nowhere to be seen amid speculation that his relationship with his daughter had gone downhill in the wake of third marriage.

At the time, an insider told MailOnline that the Earl’s health was unlikely to have accounted for his absence.

Rather it was likely to have been the result of a changing family dynamic. 

‘The four children are all close to their mother Victoria and get on well with their step-siblings, and their Spencer aunts and have forged their own relationships with one another without needing Charles to bind them together,’ said the insider.

READ MORE: Here come the Spencer brides! A look back at the family’s jaw-dropping weddings

 

A source had previously told MailOnline how Earl Spencer and his eldest daughter have drifted apart over time, saying: ‘Kitty and Charles were very close when she was growing up, but their relationship has cooled and been more distant since his marriage to his third wife Karen in 2011.

‘Charles recently suffered an injury and perhaps that will be the reason for him not travelling, but it is just easier for everyone that he is not there.’

The Earl had been struggling with a painful shoulder injury which he revealed was affecting his freedom of movement.

So Kitt was given away not by her father but by her brother Louis, Viscount Althorp, 29, and half-brother Samuel Aitken, 20, whose father is South African businessman Jonathan Aitken.

Her twin sisters Lady Amelia, 31, and Lady Eliza Spencer, 31, were also there to watch Kitty and Michael exchange vows between floral arches.

The bride, a Global Brand Ambassador for Dolce & Gabbana, wore five gowns by the designer over the weekend.

Lady Kitty’s stunning high-neck, Victorian-inspired white lace gown featured feminine puff sleeves and a cinched waist

Kitty is the niece of Princess Diana, whose wedding to Prince Charles on July 29, 1981, was dubbed as the ‘wedding of the century’ (pictured)

Lady Kitty’s father Earl Spencer, 57, did not attend. Pictured, Prince Harry, with his uncle Earl Spencer, unveiling a statue of his mother Diana, Princess of Wales, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, on what would have been her 60th birthday on July 1, 2021

For her main dress, the high-neck, Victorian-inspired white lace gown featured feminine puff sleeves and a cinched waist. The design drew inspiration from her mother Victoria Lockwood’s own wedding dress with its button-down front.

Designer and co-founder of the fashion house, Domenico Dolce later said of Kitty’s wedding wardrobe: ‘She told us she had thought of us immediately, and we were very happy with that!’

The designers said they had only four fittings to get it right. 

‘They’ve been beautiful and emotional moments,’ said Dolce. ‘One of the inspirations is definitely her love for Italy. Kitty is in love with our beautiful country and its rich history, art and culture.’

Stefano Gabbana said: ‘But she is also a girl who is very attached to her origins, to England; to her heritage of the great Victorian era. And like all the English people, she has a great passion for all kinds of flowers.’

The famous Spencer Tiara worn by Princess Diana was missing from the ceremony. Instead, Kitty opted for an elegant veil, intricate headpieces and flower crowns that each complemented the respective gowns.

The couple exchanged vows in between floral arches. Music was provided by a pianist and a singer positioned to the right of the couple.

Mr Lewis wore a kippah, and it is thought Lady Kitty received instruction in the Jewish faith ahead of the ceremony.

The smiling newlyweds walked back down the aisle hand-in-hand as guests tossed pastel-coloured confetti in the air.

The celebrations continued into the evening with dancing and a live band and the night ended with a spectacular fireworks display.

The model caught the eye of the business tycoon when they met through mutual friends in 2018 and got married in the sumptuous Italian wedding ceremony three years later.

The model caught the eye of the business tycoon when they met through mutual friends in 2018 (pictured in July 2021 before their honeymoon)

The bride, who is a Global Brand Ambassador for Dolce & Gabbana, five gowns by the designer over the course of the weekend

But before she met her prince charming, Lady Kitty, made a name for herself in the fashion world, as a spokesmodel for Dolce & Gabbana, who supplied five dresses for her wedding and walked in several Fashion Weeks across the globe.

Meanwhile, Michael knows a thing or two about fashion as well, being the chairman of the Foschini Group, which owns British high street chains Whistles and Phase Eight.

The tycoon is believed to be worth £80million, with a £19million property in London and another home in his native South Africa, where his wife grew up after her Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer and his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, divorced.

Who is Lady Kitty Spencer?

Lady Kitty was born on 28 December 1990 at St Mary’s Hospital in Westminster.

She is the eldest daughter of Charles, now Earl Spencer, and has three full siblings: twins Lady Eliza and Amelia, and brother Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, who is the heir to their father’s earldom.

Lady Kitty’s mother is British former fashion model Victoria Aitken (nee Lockwood), who was married to Charles from 1989 until 1997.

The couple, said to have had a fiery marriage during which Charles reportedly cheated with numerous women while his wife was in rehab, moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where Kitty and her siblings Lady Eliza, Lady Amelia and Louis were brought up away from the glare of public attention.

The socialite got her first modelling gig at just one-year-old when, in 1992,  she appeared on the cover of Harper Bazaar UK with her mother in 1992.

Kitty and her siblings also have four half-siblings from their father’s second and third marriage to Caroline Freud and Karen Villeneuve, respectively in 2007 and 2011, and their mother’s second marriage to Jonathan Aitken in 2005.

The aristocrat is the niece of the late Princess Diana, which makes her a first cousin of Prince William, 40 and Prince Harry, 37.

The model was raised in South Africa, where she attended Reddam House in Cape Town.

When her parents divorced, she began splitting her time between South Africa and the UK, where she stayed at Althrop, the family’s seat in West Northamptonshire.

She was introduced to society at a debutante ball in Paris in 2009, when she was 19, and went on to study psychology, politics, and English literature at the University of Cape Town.

The savvy royal later got a master’s degree in luxury brand management from the European Business School London.

Kitty has been signed to the Storm modelling agency for nearly a decade and made her print debut in 2015 for Tatler.

In 2017, she walked for Dolce & Gabbana at Milan Fashion Week and she has since become a spokesmodel for the brand.

The socialite was raised in South Africa until her parents divorced when she was seven, after which she began spending her time between Cape Town and the UK (pictured in London in September 2021)

Aside from her modelling career, Lady Kitty is  an ambassador for the youth homeless charity Centre Point. She is pictured attending the Christian Dior show during Paris Haute-Couture Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2016

The brand supplied Kitty with five bespoke creations for her wedding celebrations in 2021.

On top of a flourishing modelling career, Lady Kitty is also a philanthropist and an ambassador for the youth homeless charity Centre Point.

She is also a trustee and patron for the charity Give Us Time, which helps members of the military rehabilitate into society and reconnect with their families after their service.

A keen volunteer, she has helped raise funds for Sir Elton John’s AIDS Foundation, raising £140,000 in 2017, and Save the Children.

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