Duke of Marlborough charged with three counts of intentional strangulation
The Duke of Marlborough, formerly known as Jamie Blandford, has been charged with three counts of deliberate strangulation, Thames Valley Police said.
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, a relative of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, has been charged with three offenses between November 2022 and May 2024, Thames Valley Police said.
Three charges of intentional non-fatal strangulation are alleged to have been made against the same man in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
The 70-year-old man will appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday following his arrest on May 13 last year.
Spencer-Churchill, who is known to have had a long struggle with drug addiction in the past, is the 12th Duke of Marlborough and a member of one of Britain’s most aristocratic families. Wartime prime minister Winston Churchill is his first cousin and has been removed three times.
His ancestral family home is the 300-year-old Blenheim Palace, Sir Winston’s birthplace, in Woodstock. But he doesn’t own the 18th century palace.
Spencer-Churchill has no role in the management of the residence and the extensive grounds, which are a Unesco World Heritage Site.
In 1994, the late duke took legal action to prevent his son and heir from gaining control of the family seat.
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 conduct 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.”
The King hosted a reception for European leaders at Blenheim Palace in July 2024, and the Queen, then Duchess of Cornwall, joined Spencer-Churchill for the unveiling of a bust of Sir Winston on the Blenheim grounds in 2015.
The palace was also the scene of the theft of a gold toilet worth £4.75 million in 2019 after a gang of thieves entered the palace during a brazen robbery and dismantled a fully functional 18-carat gold toilet.
This is breaking news, more to come…
