Earl Spencer's estranged wife 'finally' moves out of family estate into 'temporary new home' - almost a year after he 'dumped her by text'

Earl Spencer's estranged wife has 'finally' moved out of the Althorp estate - close to a year after he allegedly ended their marriage abruptly by text message. Countess Karen Spencer, 52, revealed on Instagram that she and her 12-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte had 'at long last' moved into their 'temporary new home'. In a lengthy message, the Canadian-born Countess, who married Princess Diana's brother in 2011 before separating last March, said her 'new chapter is already taking shape'.

She said: 'Well… at long last, three weeks ago, we finally moved into our temporary new home. Still waiting for the horses to arrive - hopefully next week! Doesn't quite feel like home without them.'. Countess Spencer added that her new home has been 'incredibly peaceful' - and shared a photograph of the view onto the paddocks. She said: 'Lots and lots of boxes everywhere! I’m looking forward to sharing more of my new home life, once things start coming together! The photo is the view out onto the garden and paddocks where there will hopefully be horses joining Lucky and Minty soon.'.

The Canadian-born social entrepreneur became Spencer's third wife in June 2011, and they welcomed their 12-year-old daughter, Lady Charlotte Diana, a year later. But Countess Spencer claimed she was informed by the Earl on March 19 last year that 'their marriage was over' after almost 13 years. Earl Spencer and Lady Karen Spencer (pictured in June 2018) announced their split last June. Countess Karen Spencer, 52, revealed on Instagram that she and her 12-year-old daughter Lady Charlotte had 'at long last' moved into their 'temporary new home' from Althorp (above).

Countess Spencer has since accused her husband of having an affair with Dr Cat Jarman, 43, a Norwegian archaeologist digging for a Roman villa at his Althorp ancestral home where the Earl grew up with Diana. She alleged that the Earl, 60, told her by text message last March that their marriage was over, claiming he refused to discuss the matter with her in person. However, Earl Spencer has dismissed this notion as 'an absurd attempt to blacken my name', claiming that the Countess had ended the marriage herself.

A bitter legal battle has now embroiled the former couple after Dr Jarman sued the Countess, accusing her of revealing private details of her life. High Court papers unveiled in December had revealed an email the 'shocked and devastated' Countess Spencer wrote to her husband's girlfriend. It said: 'First of all as a woman, I just have to tell you that I am so disappointed in you. Turning all of the children's lives upside down like this is so unbelievably immoral.'.

She signed off her message in May this year by saying: 'Good luck Cat, you're in for a hell of a ride. I think that you'll find having him to deal with full-time will be much trickier than the odd five-day escape to Norfolk and a night or two in London here and there.'. Earl Spencer confirmed his relationship with Dr Cat Jarman (pictured together) last October. Princess Diana kisses her brother Earl Spencer outside a restaurant in London in 1990.

The allegations form part of Countess Spencer's defence to an explosive High Court privacy case brought against her by Dr Jarman. The Earl – who has been married three times and has had a well-documented colourful love life - and the Countess announced their split last June, and he publicly confirmed his relationship with Dr Jarman in October. In his girlfriend's legal claim against his wife – they remain married pending a divorce – she alleges that she was shocked when the Countess revealed her private information to him.

In an interview with the Mail, Dr Jarman said: '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. 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.'.

She alleges that Spencer's wife 'found out from someone close to me' and '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. Earl Spencer and Lady Karen Spencer at Harry and Meghan's wedding in Windsor in 2018.

'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?".'. The legal action is at an early stage and has not yet come to trial. Countess Spencer is fighting the case, and her defence papers state: 'For the avoidance of any doubt, Lady Spencer is perfectly entitled to and will (where relevant or necessary) continue to explain that [Dr Jarman] and her husband had an affair and that this was why he wanted a divorce and offered no explanation for doing so in such an insensitive and inexplicable manner after 13 years of marriage.'.