Charles Spencer and his new wife, Cat Jarman, share a new hobby in their newlywed days
NEED TO KNOW
-
Jarman has taken up horseback riding in the last few months
-
They spent part of their honeymoon, following their surprise wedding on May 15, horseback riding in the rugged Arizona desert
Charles Spencerand his new wife, Professor Cat Jarman, have been sharing a new pastime despite her multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
Jarman has taken up horseback riding and was seen riding off into newlywed life on a pony trek through the rugged landscape of the Arizona desert on her honeymoon.
Charles, the 9th Earl Spencer, introduced his archaeologist wife to horse riding at home in the U.K. in the countryside around his estate, Althorp, where he grew up with his sister, the latePrincess Diana. Jarman had not tried riding horses before she met Charles, 61.
She has also added another string to her bow. Jarman surprised herself in taking up archery on horseback, something friends say she never thought she could contemplate in the light of her MS diagnosis.
The Viking expert discovered she had MS in 2016 while finishing her PhD. Several months ago, revealing a picture of herself shotting arrows from a horseback, she wrote, "I’d give anything to be able to go back to that 2016 version of me, terrified that it was the end of my life as I knew it, to tell her this is where I’d be in 2025: I thought I’d never be able to use my right arm again, and believed, like I was told, that I’d have less than a decade before my body would fail me."
"To actually hit a few targets in a trot this week, nine months after my first ever riding lesson, feels like a massive F*** Y** to MS!" she wrote on Instagram in November 2025.
PEOPLE confirmed on May 19 that Spencer and Jarman wed in a private ceremonyin Arizona on May 15, saying in a statement: “We both feel so incredibly lucky to have progressed from being colleagues, to friendship, to deep love and connection. Each stage of our relationship has been underpinned by laughter, and we share a passion for life.”
Advertisement
Jarman and Spencer connected after he was asked to review her 2021 nonfiction bestsellerRiver Kings, and they continued to work together, collaborating on archaeological digs and launching the podcastThe Rabbit Hole Detectiveswith Rev. Richard Coles.
They announced they had traveled to Arizona to marry, releasing new images of their nuptials. The pictures showed the couple holding hands and posing close across five slides, with Sedona’s iconic Cathedral Rock serving as the backdrop. Jarman wore a pale blue sleeveless gown, while Spencer had a dark suit and an open-collared blue shirt.
Reflecting on his happy day, when he wed Jarman on May 15, Spencer said, "A very close friend said to me, months ago: 'The thing about Cat is, she’d want to be with you if you lived in a hut.' Little did I know she’d also be happy to marry me in a desert 🌵," he wrote.
Soon afterwards, they showed a video clip of them on horseback, riding off to their new life together.
Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage?Sign up for our free Royals newsletterto get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!
The couple's intimate wedding took place nearly two years after he announced that he wasdivorcing his fourth wife, Canadian philanthropist Countess Karen Spencer,in June 2024. The former couple share 13-year-old daughter Charlotte Diana, the youngest of his seven children from his first two marriages.
Their split was finalized in December 2025 afterJarman filed a lawsuit against the Countess. The archaeologist alleged misuse of private information and claimed that Karen disclosed her MS diagnosisin a lawsuit. The case was settled in late 2025.
Read the original article onPeople
