Lady Kitty Spencer then and now: how Princess Diana’s South African niece went from Cape Town party girl to London fashion model, now engaged to billionaire Michael Lewis

Dec 16 , 2020

From left, Lady Kitty Spencer in Cape Town in 2011, and posing for Bulgari in 2020 – evidence of how she has transformed her lifestyle. Photo: @kitty.spencer/Instagram

After a joke engagement to a football player, the 29-year-old UK royal is now the actual fiancée of the 61-year-old businessman, and has traded late nights for modelling for luxury fashion brands including Bulgari and Gucci

Lady Kitty Spencer has become a famous face on the social scene and even runway thanks to her family ties with the late Princess Diana. As the niece of the People’s Princess, Kitty lived a quiet life in South Africa away from the international press. Once known as a Cape Town party girl, Spencer did a complete 180 on her image, looks and even her choice of men when she relocated back to the UK.

STYLE took an exclusive look at Kitty’s incredible transformation over the years.

Escaping the limelight

In 1995, Lady Kitty Spencer’s parents, Charles Spencer and Victoria Aitken, moved their family from London to Cape Town to escape the spotlight. Kitty has described her childhood as a simple one, with her walking around barefoot and her dad making sure she lived on a budget, wanting to teach her the value of money. When she was 18, she posed for the cover of British high-end magazine Tatler in what was seen as her introduction to society.

Earl and (then) Countess Spencer with their daughters Kitty, Amelia and Eliza. Photo: @kitty.spencer/Instagram

The South African Style Awards

Kitty Spencer at the South Africa Style Awards. Photo: SA Style Awards

Although relatively unknown in South African social circles, Spencer soon made a name for herself as a party girl after being named the most stylish “model and person” in the country at the 2009 South African Style Awards.