With her willowy figure, enormous eyes and sharp cheekbones, Victoria Lockwood was one of Britain’s most in-demand models, quickly impressing the likes of Dior and Ralph Lauren – the latter once calling her ‘the most beautiful girl in the world’. A Tatler cover girl, she caught the eye of a young Charles Spencer, then styled Viscount Althorp, who popped the question within six weeks of meeting her.
In September 1989, Lockwood and Spencer married in a grand ceremony, with the bride wearing an an ornate, Medieval-inspired gown trimmed with fur designed by couture creator Thomasz Starzewski, made in just eight weeks. Three years later, upon the death of John Spencer, Charles inherited the Earldom, and the couple moved to Althorp, where they raised their ever-expanding family: daughter Kitty, now 34, twins Amelia and Eliza, 33, and Louis, Viscount Althorp, 31.
Lady Eliza Spencer, Lady Kitty Spencer and Lady Amelia Spencer at an event together in October 2024
Dave Benett/Getty Images
When their children were still young, Lockwood decided to move them to Cape Town, South Africa, in an effort to escape the limelight generated by Earl’s sister, Princess Diana. In 1995, the couple established themselves at the magnificent Tarrystone estate, built in the middle of two vineyards, where it seemed they would enjoy familial bliss – until, just two years later, the pair filed for divorce.