Duke of Marlborough accused of strangling estranged wife

The Duke of Marlborough is accused of strangling his estranged wife, according to court documents.

Charles James Spencer-Churchill, who is related to Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, is charged with three counts of intentional strangulation between November 2022 and May 2024.

The 70-year-old was summoned to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday following his arrest in May last year but the court heard he was “unable to attend”.

District Judge Kamlesh Rana said the case would be listed for a plea hearing before the chief magistrate at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on January 5.

Court documents say the charges of non-fatal intentional strangulation against his estranged wife allegedly took place in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

Mr Spencer-Churchill, known as Jamie to his family, is the 12th Duke of Marlborough and a member of one of Britain’s most aristocratic families.

Mr Spencer-Churchill, who is distantly related to wartime prime minister Sir Winston (his first cousin, thrice removed) and also to Diana of the Spencer line, took over the dukedom in 2014 following the death of his father, the 11th Duke of Marlborough. Before this, the twice-married Mr Spencer-Churchill was the Marquess of Blandford and was also known as Jamie Blandford.

The Duke married his second wife, Welsh ceramist Edla Griffiths, in 2002, but they separated in 2024.

They are said to have met while living in Chelsea and working on her art, and married after dating for seven years.

They had a daughter, Lady Araminta Spencer-Churchill, the equestrian, in 2007, and a son, Lord Caspar Spencer-Churchill, in 2008.

Edla, 57, became the Duchess of Marlborough when Mr Spencer-Churchill took over the dukedom following the death of her father, the 11th Duke, in 2014.

The Duke was previously married to Becky Few Brown, the mother of his eldest son and his heir George, a polo player and the current Marquess of Blandford.

His ancestral family home is the 300-year-old Blenheim Palace, Sir Winston’s birthplace, in Woodstock. But the duke does not own the 18th-century baroque palace and has no role in the management of the residence and extensive estate.

Blenheim is owned and managed by the Blenheim Palace Heritage Trust.

A spokesman for the trust said: “The Blenheim Palace Heritage Trust is aware that legal action is being taken against the Duke of Marlborough.

“The Foundation is unable to comment on the allegations, which relate to the duke’s personal behavior and private life and are the subject of live criminal proceedings.

“The Foundation is not owned or managed by the Duke of Marlborough, but is owned by independent organizations governed by a board of trustees.”