Days after announcing the end of his marriage, Earl Spencer was spotted enjoying a theatre trip in London with his podcast co-host Dr Cat Jarman.
Charles, 60, and Cat, who is separated from her husband, were among the audience at the hit comedy musical The Book of Mormon and despite going through a turbulent time, the younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales appeared happy and relaxed.
Photos showed him with his hand on the Norwegian archaeologist and author’s back, adding fuel to rumours of a potential new romance following reports that the pair were "becoming close".
Charles and Cat, who launched their history-focused podcast Rabbit Hole Detectives Detectives with the Rev. Richard Coles in February 2023, seemed very happy with each other’s company, smiling and laughing together as they queued with fellow theatregoers outside the building.
It followed his confirmation that he was divorcing his third wife, Karen, after 13 years of marriage. They have one daughter, Lady Charlotte, 12 next month.
The Earl is also father to Lady Kitty, 33, twins Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia, 31, and his heir Viscount Althorp, 30, all from his first marriage to Victoria Aitken, plus Edmund, 20, and Lady Lara, 18, from his second marriage, to Caroline Freud.
Announcing the split, he said: "It is immensely sad. I just want to devote myself to all my children and to my grandchildren and I wish Karen every happiness in the future."
Breaking the news
It is thought the emotional strain of writing his childhood memoir A Very Private School, in which Charles said he had suffered physical and sexual abuse while at boarding school, played a part in the marriage breakdown.
The couple reportedly told staff at Althorp, the Spencer family seat in Northamptonshire, in March that their marriage was ending.
The Earl married Canadian philanthropist Karen in June 2011 in the grounds of Althorp, after meeting the previous year on a blind date at a Los Angeles restaurant.
In an emotional Instagram post at the beginning of the month, Karen, 52, told her social media followers her father had passed away following "a long battle" with Alzheimer’s disease and that she had been "happy to be there" to support her family, who live on Vancouver Island.