The Duke of Marlborough has been charged with three counts of intentional strangulation, police have said.
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 70, a relative of Princess Diana and Winston Churchill, is accused of three counts of intentional strangulation between November 2022 and May 2024.
The offences are alleged to have been committed in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.
He was arrested on May 13 last year following a police investigation and is set to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, Thames Valley Police said.
Charles became the 12th Duke of Marlborough after inheriting the title from his father John Spencer-Churchill who died in 2014 at the age of 88.
His ancestral home is Blenheim Palace, the 300-year-old estate where Churchill was born, in Woodstock.
Blenheim Palace is a Unesco World Heritage Site and a popular tourist attraction. It is is owned and managed by the Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.
A spokesperson for the foundation said: ‘Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation is aware legal proceedings have been brought against the Duke of Marlborough.
‘The foundation is unable to comment on the charges, which relate to the duke’s personal conduct and private life, and which are subject to live, criminal proceedings.
‘The foundation is not owned or managed by the Duke of Marlborough, but by independent entities run by boards of trustees.’
The Duke, formerly known as Jamie Blandford, is a distant cousin of Princess Diana, and a relative of Winston Churchill, who was his first cousin three times removed.
This is a breaking news story. More to follow.
