Duke of Marlborough Charged with Strangulation

Charles James Spencer-Churchill, the 12th Duke of Marlborough, has been charged with three counts of intentional strangulation, according to Thames Valley Police. The 70-year-old aristocrat, a distant relative of the late Princess Diana and former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, faces allegations of the non-fatal offenses committed against the same individual in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, between November 2022 and May 2024. He was arrested on May 13, 2023, as part of a police investigation and has been summonsed to appear at Oxford Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

The charges stem from incidents investigated over the past year, though police have not released further details about the circumstances or the identity of the alleged victim, citing ongoing proceedings. Spencer-Churchill, known to family and friends as Jamie, inherited the dukedom in 2014 upon the death of his father, the 11th Duke, at age 88. Prior to assuming the title, he was known as the Marquess of Blandford and had been twice married. The duke has a well-documented history of struggling with drug addiction earlier in life, which he has spoken about publicly in the past.

His family's ancestral seat is Blenheim...