Winston Churchill’s Cousin in Some Legal Trouble

A criminal case is moving forward in a long-running dispute involving one of Britain’s most prominent aristocratic families. The Duke of Marlborough has been accused of repeatedly strangling his estranged wife and subjecting her to years of controlling or coercive behavior, according to charges outlined at Oxford Crown Court.

Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 70, faces three counts of intentional strangulation and two counts of controlling or coercive behavior in an intimate or family relationship, alleged to have occurred between December 2015 and September 2024, the BBC reported. He has previously pleaded not guilty to the strangulation charges.

Prosecutors allege the incidents took place at the couple’s home in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, between November 2022 and May 2024. Details presented at an earlier hearing include claims that on Nov. 13, 2022, the duke struck his wife during an argument in their garden and then put his hands around her neck. Another alleged incident on April 23, 2023, involved him grabbing her hair, punching her, and seizing her neck as she moved into a laundry room. A third allegation from Jan. 29, 2024, says he held her tightly by the neck and threw her onto a bed.

At the hearing, the duke spoke only to confirm his name and that he understood his bail conditions. He has not yet entered formal pleas on all five charges. Judge Ian Pringle said an application to dismiss the case has been filed and will be heard in April. A provisional plea hearing has been scheduled for June 22, with a trial tentatively set for January 2028.

Spencer-Churchill inherited the title and the ancestral seat of Blenheim Palace in 2014. He married Welsh ceramist Edla Griffiths in 2002, and the couple are believed to have separated in 2024. They have two children together. He was previously married to Rebecca Few-Brown, with whom he has a son.

Blenheim Palace is run by an independent heritage foundation, which has said it cannot comment on the duke’s private life or ongoing legal proceedings.

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