Kitty Spencer's engagement to a man five years older than her father was reported last week. Photo / Getty
Kitty Spencer's engagement to a man five years older than her father was reported last week. Photo / Getty
William and Harry's cousin Kitty Spencer made headlines last week after it was reported that the 29-year-old is engaged to 61-year-old multimillionaire Michael Lewis - five years older than her father.
But this is only the latest twist in the Spencers' colourful past, writes the New York Post, as Kitty's parents' lives featured lawsuits, drugs, affairs and even prison.
Her father Charles Spencer was Princess Diana's little brother - they were close growing up, but it's said they hadn't been speaking at the time she died.
Spencer was engaged to model Victoria Atwood just six weeks after they met, married in 1989 with Harry as pageboy and businessman Darius Guppy as best man.
Guppy went to jail in 1993 for faking a jewel robbery to claim £18 million (NZD $35million) in insurance.
Spencer and Atwood's marriage faced some difficulties early when it was discovered that Charles was having an affair just six months after Kitty was born. Twins Eliza and Amelia were born in 1992 before son Louis was finally born in 1994 - meaning the family would be able to retain their estate.
Victoria sadly faced drug dependency problems and anorexia, as she'd first tried heroin as a young model living in New York. The family relocated to South Africa to start afresh and get away from the press, but split up in 1997 with Victoria alleging that Charles had had affairs with dozens of other women.
Charles Spencer and his third wife Karen have one daughter together. Photo / Getty
She remarried to businessman Jonathan Aitken, whom she'd met in rehab, and in 2005 the couple had a son, Samuel.
This marriage also ended on a bad note when Victoria's new flame James Clinch took Aitken to court, accusing him of threatening to "shoot him in the head". In response Aitken countersued and accused Clinch of trying to break up his marriage.
Charles Spencer remarried Caroline Freud and had two more children, before beginning an affair with American journalist Colleen Sullivan when his sixth child was four months old. The pair met when she came to interview him for a doco about Princess Diana.
The marriage failed in 2007, and by 2011 Charles had married for the third time to Canadian philanthropist Karen Gordon. The pair have one daughter together.
Kitty admitted to Hello Magazine in 2008 that her family was "unconventional".
"Sometimes I feel like my family should be on The Jerry Springer Show. From the outside, the structure looks so dysfunctional," she said. "However, every single member of my family is part of my happiness."
It's reported that her fiance Michael Lewis, who has three children from a previous marriage, proposed just before Christmas. They have been together for over a year.
