The Duke of Marlborough has refuted allegations of strangling his estranged wife Edla Marlborough.
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, a descendant of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, is facing charges of three counts of intentional strangulation against his estranged wife Edla Marlborough from November 2022 to May 2024. He has stated his intention to plead not guilty at High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court after being apprehended in 2024.
During a court session, it was disclosed that Spencer-Churchill allegedly assaulted Ms. Marlborough after a dispute in their residence’s garden by placing his hands around her neck on November 13, 2022.
Another incident reportedly occurred on April 23, 2023, where Ms. Marlborough sought refuge in a laundry room before the accused, who provided his address as Blenheim Palace, purportedly physically attacked her and strangled her.
The final accusation is that the duke physically assaulted Ms. Marlborough after putting his hands tightly around her neck on January 29, 2024.
Appearing in court on Monday, Spencer-Churchill, dressed in a navy suit, white shirt, and blue tie, confirmed his personal details and entered his not guilty pleas.
Granted conditional bail by chief magistrate Paul Goldspring, the 70-year-old is scheduled to appear at Oxford Crown Court on February 5 to formally respond to the charges.
The duke tied the knot with Welsh ceramicist Edla Griffiths in 2002, but they separated in 2024. Their relationship began while she resided in Chelsea and pursued her artistic endeavors, culminating in their marriage after seven years of courtship. They share two children, Lady Araminta Spencer-Churchill, born in 2007, and Lord Caspar Spencer-Churchill, born in 2008.
Edla, aged 57, assumed the title of Duchess of Marlborough when Spencer-Churchill inherited his dukedom following his father’s passing, the 11th duke, in 2014.
Before his marriage to Edla, the duke was previously wed to Becky Few-Brown, the mother of his eldest son George, the current Marquess of Blandford.
Belonging to a lineage connected to Sir Winston Churchill and Diana through the Spencer family, Spencer-Churchill inherited the title of duke in 2014 upon his father’s demise, the 11th Duke of Marlborough.
His ancestral residence, the 300-year-old Blenheim Palace, where Sir Winston was born, is situated in Woodstock; however, the duke does not possess the 18th-century baroque palace as it is overseen by the Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.
<p class="Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh " data-tmdatatrack="content-unit" data-tmdatatrack
