Earl Spencer is looking to rebuild his relationship with his children after a rift that has lasted decades.

He has seven children but has grown apart from the four eldest – whom he shares with his first wife Victoria Lockwood – in recent years.

Rumours of a rift due to tensions over his third marriage to Countess Karen Spencer are being blamed for the distance between the Earl and his children.

The Sunday Express can reveal that this includes Lady Kitty Spencer with whom Charles Spencer, 60, once shared a very close bond.

The source claims now Charles has initiated divorce proceedings against the Canadian philanthropist he can start to rebuild the shattered relationship with his children.

“Charles and Kitty used to be very close so it’s extremely sad,” said the source.

“Kitty stayed at Charles’s flat when she was studying at Regents University in the city, and she regularly flew back and forth between South Africa and London to see him.

“But they haven’t seen each other much in recent years. Unfortunately, that was down to Karen. Kitty and the rest of the children weren’t really fans.”

Earl Spencer announced last month that he and his wife were ending their 13-year marriage.

“It is immensely sad,” Charles said previously, “I just want to devote myself to all my children, and to my grandchildren, and I wish Karen every happiness in the future.”

Charles is rumoured to have hired Fiona Shackleton, the lawyer who once represented King Charles during his tumultuous split from the Earl’s sister, the late Princess Diana, to finalise his divorce to the current Countess Spencer.

Karen, 52, married Charles in 2011 and has joined him at several royal events, including Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.

The countess appeared in shock upon the Earl’s announcement ending their marriage last month as she posted on social media that she was still “processing” the news.

She added she has been flooded with messages from social media followers and posted online: “Just wanted to say that I have been overwhelmed by the messages of love and support. Thank you, it has really meant a lot to me. I’m just processing at the moment. Will come back to you soon.”

Little was known about the Canadian-born former model before she married into the Spencer family, who made plans to move her life from Los Angeles to the Althorp family estate in Northamptonshire and soon started to make changes.

Countess Spencer remodelled the island in the middle of the manor’s ornamental lake where Diana is buried and made other changes around the estate which seemed to anger the Earl’s eldest children.

“Let’s just say that when Karen moved in and started putting her stamp on things was the beginning of the end,” said the source.

“She was very determined to make her mark as Countess Spencer and do things her way. That’s where the rift began.”

It is also believed part of the reason Charles and Karen’s relationship broke down was due to the psychological strain the Earl felt while writing his memoir, A Very Private School, which gave a rather harrowing account of alleged sexual abuse during his boarding school years.

In the acknowledgements for the book, Charles thanked Karen and his family for supporting him when he became “tetchy and wrung out” during the writing process.

But the source adds that “the straw that broke the camel’s back” was the ever-growing distance between the Earl and his children, which Charles was so desperately keen to repair so that he could be present in his children’s and grandchildren’s lives. Most notably his eldest daughter Lady Kitty Spencer and her baby daughter, Athena.

“Kitty wasn’t particularly fond of Karen, and neither were the twins,” said the source.

“They found her rather curt and overly grand. It’s definitely caused a great deal of distance between the girls and their father in recent years.

“Everyone’s hoping that things will get back on track now that Charles has decided to move on from Karen and focus on his children and grandchildren.

“We all think it’s a very commendable thing to do to put your children first.”

The source adds the rift became so bad that Charles missed the wedding of his daughter Lady Amelia Spencer to Greg Mallett in a ceremony at La Cotte Farm in South Africa in March 2023.

Following Charles and his first wife Victoria Lockwood’s high-profile divorce in the late 1990s, the Earl moved back to the UK while Victoria remained in Cape Town, where the family had moved to escape the media spotlight upon the death of the late Princess of Wales.

Before his marriage to Karen, Earl Spencer appears to have been a very present father figure in the lives of all his children – he bought Lady Amelia and her twin sister Lady Eliza, both 32, Audi sports cars for their 18th birthdays, paid for luxury waterfront apartments for them in Cape Town, and idolised his eldest daughter Lady Kitty, 33.

But things started to get worse when Earl Spencer missed his eldest daughter’s lavish Italian wedding in 2021 due to the rift that developed between them.

“Kitty wasn’t sure about having Karen at her wedding which meant the Earl had to choose. It was a very difficult position for him to be in,” said the source.

“There have been a lot of missed milestones for Charles and his children which is very sad. He adores them.

“Kitty recently gave birth to Athena and the Earl is keen to rebuild relationships with his children so that he can also spend precious time with his grandchildren.”

Lady Kitty Spencer unveiled her baby daughter, Athena, to the world just last month.

The socialite and fashion model delighted fans with a charming black-and-white photo on Instagram, showing her kissing Athena’s head.

“It would make the Earl immensely happy if he could repair relations with his children. It would mean so much to him,” the source concludes.

Earl Spencer was approached for comment. Lady Kitty Spencer’s spokesperson declined to comment.