Spencer Matthews’ Family: A Touch Of Royalty
Spencer Matthews family clearly ranks as one of the more well-to-do families in the UK. It has ties that extend to the Royal Family and to immediate wealth via his father David Matthews. Such is their level of success that it didn’t necessarily demand Spencer, 31, become the famous television personality he is today.
Yet, the reality star Spencer and brother/hedge fund trader James, have both thrived. From reality show Made in Chelsea and the surrounding wealth, the former University of Southern California student has flitted from television personality to successful investor to a net worth estimated at £2.9 million.
One running principle behind the success? Motivation spurred by their father, David, to become self-made.
One other running principle? Life in the spotlight brings scrutiny. Sometimes, Matthews family members have brought it on themselves.
So who, exactly, is connected to Spencer Matthews’ family?
Sister-in-law Pippa Middleton
Spencer Matthews has three older siblings: Nina, James, and Michael, who died aged 22 in a mountaineering accident on Mount Everest.
James, 44, connects the Matthews family to the Royal Family with his marriage to Pippa Middleton. Pippa is the sister of Princess Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William.
And as young Spencer would put it in his lurid autobiography Confessions Of a Chelsea Boy, James’ exploits with the fairer sex made him worthy of admiration.
“As a boy, I wanted Nina’s heart of gold, Mike’s general character and James’s girlfriends.”
“Although both my brothers had good taste in women, James was always the pickiest of the two. He had some incredible girlfriends.”
More than just royalty
However, James Matthews has been more than just Pippa Middleton’s beau. Educated at Uppingham School in Rutland, James skipped university to become a certified City of London trader 1995. He made a name for himself in securities trading. By 2007, estimates have his Eden Rock firm managing over £1 billion in assets.
Spencer also has noted that father David’s self-made success is instilled in his children. In that sense, James has certainly followed suit. David Friedman of WealthQuotient has summed up James’ achievements thusly:
“His stake in Eden Capital and the money he potentially has taken out over the last 16 years could make him a demi-billionaire or close to a billionaire on his own merits.”
A great motor racer to boot
James also dabbles in motor racing. In the mid-1990s, he took part in such series as the British Formula 3 Championship.
- He was named Autosport’s British Club Driver of the year in 1994 (an honour won by the likes of David Coulthard and Lewis Hamilton).
- James then won the British Formula Renault Championship in 1994 for Manor Motorsport.
- He followed that up by winning the Eurocup Formula Renault in the same year.
After their 2017 marriage, Pippa and James became parents to their only child, Arthur Michael William, in 2018. Spencer Matthews’ family was at the wedding, as well as Prince Harry, and Spencer himself was a smiling best man.
Wife Vogue
Vogue Williams, 34, finally tamed the lothario Spencer when they married in 2018 on the Scottish estate owned by the family. The happy couple would become parents only months later.
Before meeting Spencer, Williams studied construction design at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University. She returned to Ireland to learn quantity surveying at the Dublin Institute of Technology.
Reality career
In 2010, she embarked on a media career, and soon became a reality star on the Irish television show Fade Street, an Irish version of The Hills or Made in Chelsea. The show followed Vogue during her work at Stellar Magazine and as a DJ.
Her reality career would extend further:
- Vogue was on Dancing with the Stars (she was third elimination) in 2012
- She then took part in Stepping Out, finishing second overall with Westlife singer, partner and future husband Brian McFadden in 2013.
Her marriage to McFadden ran from 2012 to 2017; she and Spencer were married in an intimate ceremony in June 2018. Son Theodore was born in a London hospital in September 2018.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi9zXylA4xK/?utm_source=ig_embed
The blissful couple were not invited to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018, but the couple made do just fine. As revealed in the above Instagram post, they instead spent the weekend as if they were on a sun holiday.
Then-pregnant Vogue lounging in a pair of white shorts and an orange bikini top, while Spencer stripped to a pair of camo shorts.
‘My favourite day of the summer so far! I was in charge of salads and @spencermatthews was in charge of building the @weberuk BBQ and cooking!’
Controversial ‘internment’ column
In the Sunday World, Williams wrote a column in 2017 in the wake of terrorist attacks in Manchester and London. In the column, Vogue stated her support internment camps for thousands of Muslims, drawing the ire of critics in both Ireland and the UK.
“I know it didn’t work with the internment of IRA members in Northern Ireland. But in today’s case, the terrorists cannot be negotiated with. They want to ruin the western world and they will stop at nothing to do this, so we need to have the same approach with them.”
The ensuing fury led to death threats and rebuke, forcing Williams to offer an apology. Critics on Twitter were not kind.
Somewhere between "Donald Trump is president" and "Vogue Williams says bring back internment" I think my mind gave up questioning things
— Carl Kinsella (@TVsCarlKinsella) June 5, 2017
Don't assume Vogue Williams is stupid. Do her the credit of finding her views totalitarian, oppressive and genuinely sinister. pic.twitter.com/i3Wz5tVvfR
— 🥃Donald Clarke📽️ (@DonaldClarke63) June 5, 2017
Father David
David Matthews, 76, earned the title Laird Glen Affic after he purchased a 10,000-acre estate in Scotland. A self-made multi-millionaire who had once worked as a mechanic, David Matthews found success as an entrepreneur, marrying Rhodesian-born artist Jane Spencer Parker, Spencer’s mum and Lady Glen Affric.
“My dad doesn’t believe in hand-outs. He says they don’t create the strength of character…that’s fine by me.”
Becoming self-sufficient has been their motivation. As a result, both Spencer and James endeavour to make more of the land the family has owned over the years. One family property, Eden Rock in the French Caribbean island of St. Barths, serves as a property that presents significant potential.
Compare that with now, where Eden Rock is recognised as one of the most exclusive hotels in the world. Guests have included Beyonce, Elton John, and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood stars Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Some outlets report the hotel as a £5,000 a night resort, with the most exclusive rooms going for five times that amount.
David Matthews, perhaps paving the interest for son James, was a keen motor racer in his own right. His racing dreams came to an end when he suffered a serious crash at Silverstone in 1973 and he turned to build a second-hand car empire.
Eden Rock is also the name of James’ capital management firm.
Facing decades-old rape and grooming allegations
But David Matthews has also faced his share of legal troubles in recent years. South Yorkshire Police investigated the elder Matthews for an alleged rape in Sheffield that took place in the 1980s. Charges have not been brought for those allegations.
“She is very upset. Police have been very supportive but have told her they can’t prosecute him.”
David’s legal troubles are not over, though. He was arrested in Paris in April 2018 and remains under investigation for allegedly grooming and assaulting a 15-year-old on a French Caribbean island in 1998, then raping her in Paris in 1999.
One of the offences may have taken place on the French Caribbean island of St Barts, near the Eden Rock hotel he owns. The accuser, whose name has not been made public, states:
‘Afterwards I felt like I was to blame. I developed feelings of self-loathing and felt worthless.’
The offence of ‘rape of a minor by a person with authority over his victim’ in France carries a maximum sentence of 15 years.
Rise in motorsport
David started life as a garage mechanic for his father. He moved into motorsport, where he met his first wife and fellow driver, Anita Taylor. Spencer and James stepsister, Nina, was born in the marriage, but the couple divorced in 1969.
After David Matthews left driving behind, he transformed a used-car enterprise into the Kirkby Central Group. Consequently, the success of that business transformation led to Kirky Central Group being part of an £8.5 million takeover.
Spencer Matthews himself…
CleanRum coming soon my friend 🙌 https://t.co/Je3IUERJGx
— Spencer Matthews (@SpencerMatthews) February 19, 2020
Despite all the things driving Spencer Matthews family, Spencer himself has carved out his own niche. A noteworthy player on Made in Chelsea and an investor in startup companies, Spencer Matthews has become redtop fodder connected to royalty and self-determination at the same time.
He also has a happy marriage to Vogue, one that is leaving an indelible mark on social media followers. On Twitter, there’s nearly 700,000 followers to answer to. Namely, his Clean Liquor brand (mentioned above).
Vogue is all in on the social front as well.
https://twitter.com/VogueWilliams/status/1231600591656361984
Spencer Matthews romances
Back in the days before Vogue, however? Romance ran wild for Spencer Matthews. Some of the names he has been linked to (on and off camera) include:
- Caggie Dunlop, visible on Made in Chelsea’s first three series. About this relationship, Spencer had this to say:
“When we sealed the deal in Finland it was very special, but we drifted back into being friends straightaway. I’d like to say I was in love with Funda and Louise and lots of girls I’ve dated, but none of them have made me feel like I did for Caggie. But she obviously doesn’t feel the same. If she did, then we would have been together by now. But from a young age, I always assumed we would get married – so never say never. She’s my childhood sweetheart.”
- Then came a fling with Louise Thompson. The relationship went on after he split from Caggie – but Louise then learned he had cheated on her.
- His attraction to other MIC cast members is now legendary or infamous (dependent on your perspective). In addition to Thompson, others he has dated include Lucy Watson, Stephanie Pratt, Tina Stinnes and Lauren Hutton.
- Spencer even dipped into other reality shows. He briefly dated Geordie Shore’s Vicky Pattison.
- Another romance includes model Morgane Robart.