Who did Lady Kitty Spencer marry? Wedding to husband Michael Lewis and family link to Princess Diana explained

Model and socialite Kitty Spencer recently married fashion tycoon Michael Lewis in a lavish wedding in Italy.

But who is Kitty Spencer, how is she related to Princess Diana and why didn’t her dad, Earl Spencer, not attend her wedding?

Here’s everything you need to know.

Who is Kitty Spencer?

Lady Katherine “Kitty” Eleanor Spencer is the niece of the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

The 30-year-old aristocrat is the eldest child of Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, and Victoria Lockwood.

She was born in London on 28 December 1990, but grew up in Cape Town, South Africa.

Following the divorce of her parents in 1997, Kitty divided her time between the UK with her father and South Africa with her mother.

Princess Diana was her paternal aunt, which makes Prince William and Prince Harry her first cousins.

Kitty has been a professional model since 2015, when she debuted in the December issue of Tatler.

Who is Michael Lewis?

Kitty recently married 62-year-old Michael Lewis, a South African fashion tycoon, in a lavish Italian ceremony at Villa Aldobrandini just outside of Rome.

Spencer wore five bespoke Dolce & Gabbana gowns over the three-day wedding event, with her also being a spokesmodel for the luxury fashion brand.

The couple met through mutual friends in 2018, with news of their engagement emerging in December 2019. Lewis reportedly popped the question over the Christmas period in Cape Town with a rose-cut diamond ring estimated to be worth £300,000.

Her husband is chairman of Foschini Group, which owns British high street chains Whistles and Phase Eight, along with a range of stores such as Jet in South Africa and the Retail Apparel Group in Australia.

His father, Stanley Lewis, made the family’s fortune by founding Lewis furniture stores in the 1930s.

Lewis is also on the board of a number of fund management firms, and is now reported to be worth £80 million.

He owns a £19 million property in central London and another home in the capital of South Africa’s capital.

Why didn’t Earl Spencer attend the wedding?

At the wedding last Saturday (24 July) the couple were surrounded by their family and friends, including Pixie Lott and boyfriend Oliver Cheshire, Elon Musk’s model mother Maye, Idris Elba’s wife Sabrina and Viscountess Weymouth.

The groom’s three grown-up children from his marriage to his first wife Leola also attended the wedding.

However, Kitty’s father, Earl Spencer, was notably absent from the wedding, leaving her to be walked down the aisle by her two brothers. Nothing official has yet been said about why Earl Spencer did not attend his daughter's wedding.

On Thursday (29 July) Kitty spoke out for the first time since the wedding, posting on Instagram to thank her half-brothers for walking her down the aisle.

She said: "The proudest moment of my life, without a doubt, was having my brothers walk me down the aisle.

"Thank you to our family and friends for the most unforgettable weekend filled with more love and laughter and happiness than I have ever known.

"It still feels like a dream."