Lady Kitty Spencer’s massive diamond ring sparks royal rumour

The royal family has plenty of scandals in its closet. Now everyone is talking about the mysterious diamond ring on a certain blonde’s finger.

It has already been a bumper 12 months for royal weddings: First there was Harry and Meghan’s big day, followed by Princess Eugenie tying the knot with charming tequila ambassador and all round good egg Jack Brooksbank.

Last month, it was Lady Gabriella Windsor’s turn to don a tiara and take a stroll up the aisle at St George’s Chapel in Windsor. (Let’s hope the Queen got a bulk discount there or she might be looking at slashing her dorgi budget sometime soon.)

Now we are one step closer to perhaps having another (essentially) royal wedding on our hands: that of Lady Kitty Spencer.

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Lady Kitty Spencer, Prince William and Prince Harry’s first cousin. Picture: Anthony Harvey

Kitty is the ultra-glamorous daughter of Diana’s brother Earl Spencer and thus Prince William and Prince Harry’s first cousin.

She is a mainstay at all of the boys’ major life events and stole the sartorial show at Harry’s wedding thanks to a bespoke Dolce & Gabbana number.

While the Wales boys might have to spend their working days giving speeches to business groups and trekking about Cumbrian farms, Kitty earns a crust as a model and Bulgari ambassador — very glamorous work if you can get it.

One would assume that when it comes to romantic entanglements, Kitty would be involved with some chap with a double or triple-barrelled surname with a penchant for red chinos, a decent polo handicap and a membership to Anabel’s. However, the truth could not be more different.

For nearly a year it has been rumoured Kitty, 28, has been dating 60-year-old British tycoon Michael Lewis, who founded the Whistles fashion chain. (Curious side note: Kitty’s cousin-in-law Kate is dead fond of a lovely Whistles frock for official occasions — maybe she can now get her a discount?) Michael is five years older than Kitty’s father, while his kids are about the same age as the Instagram star.

After months of reports the unlikely duo were an item, in May this year they were finally photographed together, wandering with her arm around him while out in New York.

In another interesting coincidence, where should they have chosen to stay but The Mark, the scene of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex’s highly contentious six-figure baby shower.

Not long afterwards, Kitty was spied leaving a June masquerade ball with a stonking great diamond ring on the second finger of her left hand.

Now Kitty has posted a very romantic shot of herself in Capri lolling about on a massive yacht, captioning the image: “Legend says that if you kiss your sweetheart when you sail under the arch, you will be together forever.”

Sure, Michael was most likely not at sea with her (based on the hashtags, it would appear her nautical jaunt was another hard day at the office for Bulgari), but this latest post has sparked feverish speculation this is her way of all-but-confirming things are dead serious for the unlikely couple.

This is not the first time Kitty has chosen an older bloke to date. She was in a four-year relationship with Italian property magnate Niccolò Barattieri di San Pietro, now 48. (They split in 2017, and Niccolo moved on to Liz Hurley.)

Lady Kitty Spencer and Nico Barattieri di San Pietro dated for four years.

Nor is it her first eyebrow-raising choice — let us never forget the glorious days in 2016 when Kitty all too briefly enjoyed a dalliance with pint-sized Australian TV presenter James Tobin when she came Down Under to attend the races.

Given this latest apparent escalation of public demonstrativeness from Kitty, is it any wonder some UK commentators have started quietly humming the wedding march under their breath?

Lucky Prince George and Princess Charlotte are already wedding attendant pros given there is every chance they will be popping on some velvet knickerbockers/a flower crown again fairly soon.

And lucky us — another potential royal wedding at which we can gawp at Kate’s vast collection of floral fascinators and bask in the glory of the Spencer family tiara! (It has largely been stuffed away in the back of an Althorp cupboard for the last couple of decades. The last time we got a heady glimpse was at the wedding of the daughter of Celia McCorquodale, the daughter of Diana’s older sister Lady Sarah, in 2018.)

And lucky Meghan ’cause if Kitty does marry Michael then the former Suits star will no longer be the most talked-about new family member. Come December 24 and faced with the prospect of another lengthy family dinner full of sly nods and cheeky winks, that’s got to be a huge relief.

Daniela Elser is a royal expert and freelance writer with 20 years’ experience who has written for some of Australia’s best print and digital media brands @DanielaElser