The Duke of Marlborough has been accused of strangling his ex-wife on three occasions over an 18-month period, court documents show.
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 70, formerly known as Jamie Blandford, has been charged with three counts of non-fatal intentional strangulation against Edla Marlborough.
He was due to appear before Oxford magistrates on Thursday morning but the case was adjourned ahead of a plea hearing at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on January 5.
The attacks are alleged to have taken place in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, between November 2022 and May 2024.
The twice-married aristocrat, formerly known as the Marquess of Blandford, was arrested on May 13, 2024.
He inherited his dukedom in 2014, following the death of his father, the 11th Duke of Marlborough.
He is a first cousin, thrice removed, of Sir Winston Churchill and a distant relative of the late Princess Diana through the Spencer family.
Their ancestral family home is Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, the birthplace of Sir Winston, which is owned and managed by the Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.
The foundation said it “could not comment on the charges, which relate to the duke’s personal conduct and private life, and are subject to a live criminal trial.”
