Lady Kitty Eleanor Spencer, niece of the late Princess Diana, married fashion tycoon Michael Lewis last weekend in a lavish Italian wedding.
The 30-year-old model and aristocrat made headlines when she wore a series of five hand-made gowns created by Dolce & Gabbana during the three-day event at Villa Aldobrandini on the outskirts of Rome.
The fashion house described the wedding as the most “important day of [Kitty’s] life” as she was walked down the aisle by her brothers, Louis Spencer and Samuel Aitken.
But many were left wondering who her new 62-year-old husband is and how the pair met.
Here is everything you need to know about Michael Lewis:
Personal life
Lewis was born in 1959 in South Africa.
He holds both South African and British nationalities and studied for his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Cape Town, according to the Wall Street Journal. He moved to London in the 1980s.
He has been married once before, to Leola Lewis in 1985. The couple have three children, who are all adults, and are now divorced.
Career
Lewis is the chairman of Foschini Group, a retail clothing group with more than 3,000 stores in its portfolio.
The company owns British clothing chains Phase Eight and Whistles, as well as Jet in South Africa and the Retail Apparel Group in Australia.
Lewis’ grandfather, Meyer Lewis, made the family’s fortune when he founded the Lewis furniture chain in the 1930s. His father, Stanley Lewis, acquired a controlling stake in Foschini Group in the 1980s.
Lewis is also on the board of a number of fund management firms. He founded the family’s investment vehicle, Oceana Investment Corporation after moving to London.
He is reportedly worth £80m, and owns a property in central London worth £19m, as well as another home in South Africa.
Relationship with Lady Kitty
Little is known about how or when Lewis and Spencer met. The Mail on Sunday first suggested that they were dating in August 2018 after reporting the pair had been spending a lot of time together after they were introduced by former defence secretary Liam Fox.
They were first photographed together outside The Mark Hotel in Manhattan, New York, in May 2019. The pair were seen leaving the hotel separately, but getting into the same car, reported the Evening Standard.
They appeared to confirm their romantic relationship during a holiday in St Tropez in August 2019, and were photographed sharing a kiss outside a club.
Lewis and Spencer’s engagement was confirmed in January 2020 after a source close to the couple told the Daily Mail the businessman had proposed before Christmas.
“She’s been in Cape Town for the holidays and told her mother and the rest of the family. Michael is loved by all of them,” said the source. “Despite his wealth, he’s very humble and low key.”
