Princess Diana's nieces Lady Amelia Spencer and Lady Eliza Spencer have put on a brave face as they attended Cannes Film Festival after 'missing' their 'estranged' father's wedding.

The socialites oozed glamour in shimmering gowns as they joined a host of A-listers at the screening of Coward, the queer First World War drama, on Thursday. 

Their high-profile outing comes after their father Earl Spencer, 62, wed his Norwegian archaeologist partner Professor Cat Jarman, 44, in a secret ceremony in Arizona earlier this month.

However, it's thought that Eliza and Amelia didn't attend the low-key nuptials amid speculation of a fallout between the Spencer sisters and the father-of-seven.

The Daily Mail's Richard Eden suggested some of the Earl's own children were told about the marriage after he had already exchanged vows with Cat. ‘They found out via a text,’ claims a family friend.

Rumours of a family rift began in July 2021, when Charles skipped his eldest daughter Lady Kitty's Italian wedding to retail millionaire Michael Lewis and failed to post about the family occasion on his social media accounts. 

Instead, Lady Kitty - who is 32 years younger than her husband - was walked down the aisle by her brothers Louis Spencer, Viscount Althorp, and Samuel Aitken, whose father is businessman Jonathan Aitken.   

Earl Spencer was also absent from Lady Amelia's mountaintop wedding to lifestyle coach Greg Mallet in Stellenbosch, South Africa, in 2023. 

It isn't known if any guests made the journey to Arizona for Charles and Cat's ceremony, with the nuptials taking place against a backdrop of vast desert skies, red rocks and canyons, and only the bride and groom seen in the pictures released. 

But 33-year-old twins Lady Amelia and Lady Eliza didn't let their father's elopement with his fourth wife deter them from their glittering plans last week, stepping out at Cannes in dazzling ensembles.

The models both wore floor-length Zuhair Murad gowns when attending the screening for the Belgian film at the star-studded event in France.

Lady Amelia sported a £15,000 blush, semi-sheer, gem-encrusted halter neck dress from the Lebanese fashion house's autumn collection, while Lady Eliza opted for a black mermaid gown with a similar halter neckline and a top with beaded embroidery.

Adding even more glitz to her ensemble, Lady Amelia donned a pair of drop diamond earrings made by Armenian designer Sahag Arslanian.

She pulled her hair back from her face in a slick up-do. Her sister, Lady Eliza, who is engaged to businessman Channing Millerd, sported a matching hair style.

Meanwhile, Charles Spencer tied the knot quietly with Professor Jarman earlier this month - five years after she arrived at the historic Althorp Estate, pickaxe in hand, on an archaeological dig.

This is Earl Spencer's fourth marriage. His acrimonious divorce from his third wife, Karen, was finalised in February. The wedding also comes just weeks after a bitter court battle between the two women was settled.

In an interview with the Daily Mail in November 2024, Earl Spencer admitted that Norwegian academic Cat - an unlikely future countess; one who didn't do 'posh' and was bemused by aristocratic convention - had stolen his heart and put him on a different life path. 

'Cat is completely different to anyone I have been with before,' he said, confiding that this new relationship had made him determined to do things differently.

The wedding photographs he shared with Cat seem to illustrate what he meant. All three of Earl Spencer's previous marriages were conventional society events.

But, although details are still sparse, this celebration was clearly a million miles from an aristocratic English wedding.

The ceremony took place against a backdrop of vast desert skies, red rocks and canyons - and a statement issued by the couple underlined their joy.

'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,' they said.

The relationship between 'The Toff and The Prof' was quite the scandal when it became public.

The pair had met in 2021 when Cat arrived at Althorp, the ancestral home of the Spencers, and where Princess Diana is buried, with a camera crew in tow. She was digging for a lost Roman village.

At first, she and Earl Spencer were, both have insisted, simply kindred souls, bound by a shared love of history.

While she is an internationally recognised expert in the Viking age, he is also a historian and the author of nine books.

Any idea of romance was at first preposterous because Cat was 18 years younger than Earl Spencer. 'I'm too old for hearts and flowers stuff,' he said.

Although Karen has made it clear she believed otherwise, the pair have always insisted they were both free agents by the time love blossomed.

Cat's marriage to her husband Tom had certainly been over for years, although they had never divorced.

Sometime around March 2024, they became more than friends. Earl Spencer was extraordinarily candid about how Cat had changed his life, even then.

'With her I don't pretend to be anything I am not. She knows exactly who I am - and who I am not,' he said. 'She brings out the best in me.'