Diana's niece Lady Kitty Spencer says attending Meghan and Harry's wedding changed her life forever: 'It was a bit overwhelming'
You could be forgiven for not knowing who Lady Kitty Spencer was last year. But that kind of anonymity is very much a thing of the past for the royal, whose popularity soared after she stunned at the Sussexes' wedding.
The 28-year-old had made her foray into the fashion world with Italian fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana in 2017 and was very much an unknown entity until she made a statement the world could not ignore with an emerald green ensemble at Prince Harry's and Meghan Markle's nuptials last May.
The eye-catching hand-painted green Dolce & Gabbana dress aside, Kitty also sported a bespoke Philip Treacy hat and glittering Bulgari jewelry that saw her become a social media sensation overnight.
Her Instagram following rose by almost half-a-million overnight, something she 'still finds hard to believe.'
"I thought I was in someone else's account," she told Marie Claire for their August issue. "I turned off my phone—it was a bit overwhelming. I felt like someone was watching me!"
She had spoken previously about the sudden rise in popularity as well, telling Harper's Bazaar, "My Instagram followers went from 17,000 to half a million in one night. I thought I had someone else's phone when I woke up the next morning. I had to turn my notifications off because my phone was going to die."
Kitty, the daughter of model Victoria Aitken and Earl Charles Spencer, younger brother of Diana, Princess of Wales, and who had a sheltered upbringing in South Africa, used this to open a whole new world of opportunities.
She went on to become an ambassador for Italian jewelry brand Bulgari, walked the runway for Dolce & Gabbana, and appeared on the cover of several magazines.
She described the attention as 'unexpected' and said she was still getting used to it. "I do feel like I sort of snuck through the back door and no one's noticed yet," she said.
"That's the feeling I get, especially at shows. I keep thinking that this is potentially short term and a really exciting moment, so I'm trying to embrace it for what it is. And then when it does end, just being grateful because it was something I never imagined in the first place," she said.
Kitty is now active on Instagram and uses it to share snippets of her life with her followers.
"I’m lucky, I get lovely messages," she told Marie Claire. "It takes a lot to ruffle my feathers, and it’s not going to be a negative Instagram comment!"