{{short description|English aristocrat and public relations specialist}}{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2025}}{{Infobox person | name = Caroline, Countess Spencer | birth_name = Caroline Victoria Hutton | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|10|16|df=yes}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | signature = | spouse = {{Ubl |{{Marriage|[[Matthew Freud]]|November 8, 1991|2000|reason=div.}} |{{Marriage|[[Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer]]|2001|2007|reason=divorced}} }} | parents = | children = 4 | education = [[University of Oxford]] | occupation = | relatives = }} '''Caroline "Pidge" Spencer, Countess Spencer''' (née '''Caroline Victoria Hutton'''; born 16 October 1966), formerly '''Caroline Freud''', is a British aristocrat and public relations specialist. She was married to [[Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer]], the younger brother of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]], from 2001 to 2007.

== Early life == Hutton grew up in [[Sussex]].<ref name= guardian/> Her father worked at [[Lloyd's of London]] before relocating the family to [[Roedean]].<ref name= guardian/> She grew up with two brothers and three stepbrothers.<ref name= guardian/> Hutton went on to attend the [[University of Oxford]].<ref name= guardian/>

== Career == Hutton worked as a nursery school teacher.<ref name= standard>{{cite web |last= |first= |date= 13 April 2012|title= Wife Spencer dumped just after their baby's birth|url= https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/wife-spencer-dumped-just-after-their-babys-birth-7255816.html|website= [[The Evening Standard]]|location= |publisher= |access-date= 12 December 2025}}</ref> After finishing her studies at Oxford, she worked in [[Monte Carlo]] as the public relations representative for a men's tennis tour.<ref name= guardian/> In 1988, she began working for [[Freud Communications]].<ref name= vanityfair>{{cite web |last= Newman|first= Judith|date= 8 August 2001|title= Scions in Love|url= https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2001/08/murdoch-200108?srsltid=AfmBOopfgNz5tC02Eg5ltOrfpfBceEW23Ym7YxDDWKnBmbh8B70phe0v|website= [[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|location= |publisher= |access-date= 12 December 2025}}</ref>

As Countess Spencer during her second marriage, Hutton founded the Althorp Literary Festival.<ref name= guardian>{{cite web |last= Adams|first= Tim|date= 3 June 2006|title= The lit-girl|url= https://www.theguardian.com/books/2006/jun/04/fiction.features|website= [[The Guardian]]|location= |publisher= |access-date= December 12, 2025}}</ref> The annual event, hosted at the [[Spencer family]]'s seat, [[Althorp]], included [[Alain de Botton]], [[Simon Schama]], [[Tina Brown]], [[Sebastian Faulks]], [[Boris Johnson]], and [[James Cracknell]] as speakers.<ref name= guardian/>

== Personal life == Hutton married [[public relations]] executive [[Matthew Freud]], the son of former [[Member of Parliament|MP]] Sir [[Clement Freud]] and great-grandson of [[Sigmund Freud]], for whom she worked for at [[Freud Communications]] in 1991.<ref name= vanityfair/><ref>[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/03/01/matthew-freud-interview-murdoch-goldsmith/ Matthew Freud: ‘My drug of choice is control’]</ref> The couple divorced in 2000 and together they have two sons, George Rupert Freud and Jonah Henry Freud.<ref name= guardian/>

On 15 December 2001, she married [[Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer]]. The Earl Spencer is the brother of the late [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]. Upon marriage, she became styled as The Right Honourable The Countess Spencer, and was addressed as Lady Spencer. As the earl's second wife, she became stepmother to his four children from his first marriage to [[Victoria Lockwood]]: [[Lady Kitty Spencer]], [[Lady Amelia Spencer]], [[Lady Eliza Spencer]], and [[Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp]].<ref name= guardian/><ref name= tatler>{{cite web |last= Cope|first= Rebecca|date= 29 January 2021|title= The Spencers: A who’s who guide to the younger generation of the famous dynasty|url= https://www.tatler.com/article/guide-to-spencer-family-new-generation-cousins|website= [[Tatler]]|location= |publisher= |access-date= 12 December 2025}}</ref> She and Lord Spencer have two children: The Hon. Edmund "Ned" Spencer and Lady Lara Caroline Spencer.<ref>{{cite web |last= Osman|first= Josh|date= 17 May 2025|title= Charles Spencer opens up about 'baggage' he carried in marriages|url= https://www.hellomagazine.com/brides/832556/charles-spencer-opens-up-baggage-carried-marriages/|website= [[Hello! (magazine)|Hello!]]|location= |publisher= |access-date= 12 December 2025}}</ref> They separated in 2007 and later divorced.<ref name= standard/>

== References == {{Reflist}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Spencer, Caroline}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:1966 births]] [[Category:British countesses by marriage]] [[Category:British public relations people]] [[Category:Freud family]] [[Category:People from Sussex]] [[Category:Spencer family|Caroline]] [[Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford]]