Charles Spencer's Girlfriend Cat Jarman Alleges His Estranged Wife Outed Her MS Diagnosis: High Court Lawsuit

Charles Spencer's girlfriend Dr. Cat Jarman has revealed that she has been living with multiple sclerosis, and is sharing this news publicly to address speculation surrounding her legal action against Charles’ estranged wife, Countess Karen Spencer. Jarman alleges in a high court claim that the Countess disclosed her diagnosis without permission, which she claims is central to the lawsuit she has filed for the unauthorized release of private information.

In an interview with Daily Mail on Dec. 4, Jarman, 48, spoke for the first time about her MS diagnosis and explained why she chose to go public now. The Norwegian archaeologist alleges that Karen Spencer informed Charles and others about her condition, prompting her to take legal action against the Countess for breaching her privacy.

Countess Spencer, whose defense has not yet been made public, did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

Jarman shared that she was diagnosed with MS in 2016 while completing her PhD and described the news as "utterly devastating." MS is a chronic neurological and autoimmune disorder in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks healthy cells, affecting individuals in varying ways, according to the National Institute of Health.

Related: Charles Spencer, 60, Breaks Silence on Romance with Woman 18 Years His Junior amid Divorce Drama: 'I Don't Have to Pretend'

"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 limited by it," Jarman told the outlet about why she chose to keep her diagnosis private, until now.

"Since then I have worked very hard indeed to keep my MS hidden, as should be my prerogative. So only a handful of people have known – and Charles wasn’t one of them. I’d been seeing him, romantically, for only two months or three months, and still hadn’t told him," she said. "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."

The Viking Age specialist claims that Karen, 52, found out that she has MS "from someone close to me" during a conversation around whether Jarman and Charles (who co-host a podcast) were having an affair (which Jarman insists didn't happen), and that Karen then told Charles.

"But in the course of a conversation about whether I had been having an affair with her husband – which I can categorically say I had not been, we were very much just friends and colleagues until after the marriage had ended – Karen learned that I have MS. It was also confirmed to her that this was not something that was widely known. And yet she then went to Charles and said: 'You do know she has MS, don’t you?' " Jarman alleged to the Daily Mail.

Related: Who Is Cat Jarman? All About Charles Spencer’s Girlfriend and Podcast Cohost

Jarman further claimed that the Countess shared the news of her MS diagnosis with "a number of people," exacerbating her distress. According to court documents obtained by Daily Mail, reported by the Telegraph and confirmed by Jarman, these individuals included staff at Althorp, the Spencer family estate, as well as the Countess’s personal trainer. The court papers also indicate that Jarman believes the Countess disclosed her condition to teachers at the private school attended by the Countess’s daughter, as well as at least one of Jarman’s colleagues.

"I’m still not entirely sure who else she shared this private and sensitive information with, which is the point of this legal action," she told the Mail. She praised her partner Charles as "incredible" for his support throughout, saying that he learned about her condition in May.

"It has been the most stressful time, and with MS you are told that it is most important to avoid stress," she said.

Jarman claimed she then spent the next five months trying to learn who Karen had told, which led to her lawyers sending letters (which she claims were ignored) before raising it to a lawsuit. On Oct. 10, The Telegraph reported that Jarman filed a lawsuit against Karen, alleging private misuse of information.

Speaking out now, the Earl Spencer's girlfriend explained that she felt compelled to share her side of the story after details from publicly available court documents were published in a widely-read newspaper. This prompted her to consult with one of her children and ultimately decide to go on the record to clarify the situation. Jarman has two teenage sons with her husband, from whom she is separated.

"I am told that no newspaper would be able to publish details of private medical information, but with social media, I cannot stop speculation. And I’m now in a position where people are asking what dirt in my background I am trying to keep quiet. It’s horrific," Jarman said.

"One of the most difficult things in all this has been the sense of a loss of control of your own life, but given the circumstances maybe it is time to just get this out there. I did chat to one of my sons about it, and he said: “Mum, you must”, because actually, as things have panned out, I am a good example of how you can still go on to have a successful life with MS," she continued.

Jarman met Charles, an author, historian and younger brother of the late Princess Diana, in 2021 when an archaeological investigation brought her to Althorp House, the Spencer family's ancestral home in Northamptonshire, England. They later launched the historical The Rabbit Hole Detectives podcast with Rev. Richard Coles in 2023, and published a book of the same name this fall.

In June, the 9th Earl Spencer announced that he and Karen were divorcing after nearly 13 years of marriage. The former couple wed at Althorp in 2011 and share 12-year-old daughter Charlotte Diana, whose middle name honors her late aunt. Both were previously married. Charles, 60, shares four children with his first wife, Victoria Lockwood, and two children with his second wife, Caroline Freud. Karen shares two daughters from her first marriage to Hollywood producer Mark Gordon.

In a twist, Charles reportedly retained the same attorney that King Charles did when he and Princess Diana divorced in 1996.

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"It is immensely sad," Charles told The Mail on Sunday in the statement announcing that he and the Countess were divorcing. "I just want to devote myself to all my children, and to my grandchildren, and I wish Karen every happiness in the future."

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