Earl to embark on third marriage

A spokesman said they planned a “private wedding” at the Spencer family home, Althorp in Northamptonshire, on June 18, attended by family and close friends.

Ms Gordon, a Canadian, is the founder of the Whole Child International charity, which works to improve care for orphaned, abandoned, abused and neglected children from around the world..

The pair released a photograph to mark their announcement. In the picture, the couple, both wearing pastel-coloured shirts, look relaxed as they embrace.

Earl Spencer, who has worked as journalist and an author, has been married twice before.

His first marriage, to former model Victoria Lockwood, lasted just eight years, and the couple divorced in 1997 – the same year his sister Diana died in a Paris car crash.

The pair have four children, Lady Kitty, 20, 18-year-old twins Lady Eliza and Lady Amelia and a son Louis, Viscount Althorp, 16.