Secrets of Diana niece’s fairytale wedding

As Lady Kitty Spencer’s brothers ‘walk her down the aisle’, first pictures from her fairytale Italian wedding

WITH a trousseau of five ever-more breathtaking dresses featuring yards of lace, silk and tulle, it was a wedding fit for a princess – the stuff of which fairytales are made.

And as Lady Kitty Spencer, 30, married retail millionaire Michael Lewis, 62, at a 17th century Italian castle on Saturday, it was a fairytale crafted by only the most stylish of artisans.

The bride – daughter of Earl Spencer and his first wife Victoria Lockwood and niece of Princess Diana – dazzled in a series of gowns made for her by fashion house Dolce & Gabbana, for whom she is a brand ambassador. The Italian duo also dressed many on her glittering guestlist.

Kitty’s main gown, with an intricate floral lace design, a high neck, long sleeves and puffed shoulders, was an echo of her mother’s own wedding dress.

However, she did not wear the distinctive Spencer diamond tiara sported by her mother at the 1989 ceremony, and most famously by her aunt Diana when she married Prince Charles in 1981. There was also no sign at the festivities, which spanned several days, of her father. On Friday he had posted a picture of a moon over the family’s ancestral home, Althorp in Northamptonshire.

Given that current travel restrictions require five days of isolation on arrival in Italy, it appears he wasn’t among the well-wishers.

He recently revealed that he has a ‘painful and unpleasant’ shoulder injury, which has been affecting his freedom of movement and may have played its part in keeping him away from the wedding, along with his third wife Karen.

Not that family were absent from the event. Kitty was escorted at the ceremony, held in the gardens of the Villa Aldobrandini – a stunning mansion in

Frascati, near Rome – by her brother Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and half brother Samuel Aitken, whose father is businessman Jonathan Aitken.

Her sisters Eliza and Amelia Spencer, the youngest of Earl

Spencer and Victoria’s four children, are also understood to have attended. Other guests included fellow Dolce & Gabbana models Emma Weymouth, the Marchioness of Bath, and Idris Elba’s wife Sabrina. Pop singer Pixie Lott, a friend for the past five years, was also there.

Also understood to have been present were the groom’s three grown-up children from his marriage to ex-wife Leola.

Some guests were thought to be staying at the five-star Hotel de la Ville in Rome, and on Friday night enjoyed a dinner at the Galleria Del Cardinale, a lavish baroque events space in the city. The bride had earlier shared photos on Instagram of her enjoying a girls’ trip in Florence. There was no

‘Gowns by Dolce & Gabbana’

Wall-to-wall elegance... the palazzo party begins

sign of Kitty’s cousins Princes William or Harry, whose weddings in 2011 and 2018 she attended. After the ceremony, the couple treated guests to a sumptuous dinner and dancing, before they took to the balcony to watch an incredible fireworks display.

Lady Kitty and her husband, who is five years older than her father, had been preparing to marry since before the pandemic, after he proposed with a £300,000 diamond ring just before Christmas 2019. They had been discreetly dating since 2018, and she has reportedly received instruction in his Jewish faith.

When it came to her dress for the big day, it seems she had only one thought in mind. Domenico Dolce said: ‘She told us she had thought of us immediately, and we were very happy with that!’

Dolce & Gabbana’s Alta Moda division spent around six months creating her wedding dress at their embroidery factory and Milan atelier. Kitty has worked with the brand since 2017.

The designers said they had only four fittings to get it right. ‘They’ve been beautiful and emotional moments,’ said Dolce. ‘One of the inspirations is definitely her love for Italy. Kitty is in love with our beautiful country and its rich history, art and culture.’

Stefano Gabbana said: ‘But she is also a girl who is very attached to her origins, to England; to her heritage of the great Victorian era. And like all the English people, she has a great passion for all kinds of flowers.’

He went on: ‘For the main dress she

‘Beautiful and emotional moments’

wanted to keep a fairly traditional, clean cut, but at the same time she desired to have a timeless allure.’ Dolce added: ‘It was all very natural and authentic. Lady Kitty Spencer described to us her dream dress, and we have tried to interpret her wishes.’

The night before the wedding, Kitty wore a baby-blue tulle gown and cape embroidered with cross-stitched flowers also made for her by Dolce & Gabbana.

Following the main ceremony, she changed into a double organza hand-painted silk gown embellished with flowers and crystals for the wedding dinner.

She then changed a third time on her big day, swapping into a cocktail dress embroidered with silver and golden beads.

Yesterday Kitty was seen wearing a mikado silk dress with cutwork inserts, embellished with sequins, applique flowers and double duchesse ribbons. For the ceremony, her husband wore a white suit with a black bow tie.

Earlier this year, Kitty told Town & Country magazine: ‘I just look forward to a really happy home life; a happy marriage and happy children.’

Kitty was raised away from the public gaze in South Africa, but is now one of the London’s most-invited. Her modelling career was launched via a sensational Tatler cover in 2009, in which she looked like a blueblooded Brigitte Bardot. Professionally, she is represented by Paula Karaiskos, who also booked Kate Moss at Storm model agency. After romances with property tycoon Niccolo Barattieri di San Pietro and cricketer Denis Compton’s grandson Nick, she met Mr Lewis through her one-time boss, former defence secretary Liam Fox, who Kitty worked for at the military charity Give Us Time. Fox is close to Adam Werrity, who runs a consultancy called Security Futures, to which Mr Lewis has donated. Publicity shy in the extreme, Mr Lewis courted her with complete discretion.

They live in a £19million house in London which Kitty has recently had completely redecorated. Mr Lewis also spends time in the tax haven of Monaco where he is thought to have another house.

His family have humble roots; his grandfather Meyer fled persecution by the Nazis in Latvia in the 1930s and relocated to South Africa, where he went on to found a successful furniture company. Meyer’s son Stanley, Michael’s father, then bought a controlling share in fashion company Foschini, which runs brands including Totalsport. Michael, who has been Foschini Group chairman since 2015, moved to the UK in the 1980s and

recently acquired Hobbs, Whistles and Phase Eight. He founded the family’s investment company, Oceana Investment Corporation, and Israeli biotechnology company Prochon. He is also a generous philanthropist.

Kitty’s family are said to find him ‘easygoing’. Following the news of their engagement, a source said: ‘Michael is loved by all of them. Despite his wealth, he’s very humble and low key.’