Duke of Marlborough denies strangling estranged wife at family home
Charles James Spencer-Churchill appeared in the dock at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
The Duke of Marlborough has indicated not guilty pleas to strangling his estranged wife on three separate occasions.
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, a relative of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, is accused of three charges of intentional strangulation against Edla Marlborough between November 2022 and April 2024.
High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court was told Spencer-Churchill is accused of striking Ms Marlborough several times following an argument in the garden of their home before putting his hands around her neck on November 13 2022.
The court was told that on April 23 2023 Ms Marlborough ran into a laundry room before the defendant, who gave his address to the court as Blenheim Palace, is alleged to have grabbed her, hit her with a closed fist and strangled her.
The final allegation is that the duke pushed Ms Marlborough on the bed and assaulted her after putting his hands tightly around her neck on January 29 2024.
Spencer-Churchill appeared in the dock on Monday wearing a navy suit, white shirt and blue tie and spoke to confirm his name, date of birth, address, and his indicated not guilty pleas.
The 70-year-old was granted conditional bail by chief magistrate Paul Goldspring to appear at Oxford Crown Court on February 5, where he will be asked to formally enter pleas to the charges.
Spencer-Churchill, known to his family as Jamie, is the 12th Duke of Marlborough and a member of one of Britain’s most aristocratic families.
He is well known to have had a long battle with drug addiction in the past.
The duke married his second wife, Welsh ceramicist Edla Griffiths, in 2002 but they separated in 2024.
They are said to have met while she was living in Chelsea and working on her art, and they wed after dating for seven years.
They had a daughter, the equestrian Lady Araminta Spencer-Churchill, in 2007 and a son, Lord Caspar Spencer-Churchill, in 2008.
Ms Marlborough, 57, became the Duchess of Marlborough when Spencer-Churchill inherited his dukedom following the death of his father, the 11th duke, in 2014.
Spencer-Churchill’s ancestral family home is the 300-year-old Blenheim Palace – Sir Winston’s birthplace – in Woodstock.
The duke does not own the 18th century baroque palace – and has no role in the running of the residence and vast estate.
