Lady Of The Manor

Model, philanthropist and member of Britain’s most famous family, Lady Kitty Spencer smoulders in the season’s finest feminine fashion

- Kathryn Madden

Lady Kitty Spencer finds herself in a conundrum every time she touches down in a new country. “I never know what profession to write on my arrivals card,” says the jet-setter with a laugh. Model? Philanthropist? Member of the British aristocracy? Today her job falls squarely into the former category. The 28-year-old is smouldering on the set of our photo shoot in a stately Sydney mansion, draped in a dazzling array of haute fashion: brilliantly sparkling Bulgari jewels, Dolce & Gabbana polka dots; classic Chanel tweed. Between looks she chats effortlessly with the crew and excitedly sends snaps to her mum, radiating warmth and ease. It’s almost hard to reconcile her royal roots, bar for an indefinable air of poise.

Spencer was born in London in 1990, the daughter of model Victoria Aitken (née Lockwood) and Earl Charles Spencer, younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales. Just one-degree removed from swirling royal scandals, the family relocated to South Africa in 1995 to escape the media’s glare. “I had an idyllic childhood,” Spencer says of her days under the Cape Town sun. “It was wholesome ... very different to if I’d grown up in London.”