Duke of Marlborough accused of strangling estranged wife | Royal | News

It has been revealed that the Duke of Marlborough has been accused of strangling his estranged wife. Charles James Spencer-Churchill, a relative of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, is charged with three counts of intentional strangulation against Edla Marlborough 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 charge of non-fatal intentional strangulation against his estranged wife allegedly took place in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

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.

Spencer-Churchill, who was distantly related to wartime prime minister Sir Winston (his first cousin, thrice estranged) as well as Diana of the Spencer line, inherited the dukedom in 2014 following the death of his father, the 11th Duke of Marlborough.

Before this, the twice-married 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.

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

The duke’s 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 running the residence and the extensive grounds, which are a Unesco world heritage site and a popular visitor attraction with parklands designed by ‘Capability’ Brown.