The Duke of Marlborough, who is accused of strangling his estranged wife on three occasions, has also been charged with controlling or coercive behaviour towards her.
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, a relative of Sir Winston Churchill and Diana, Princess of Wales, has already indicated not guilty pleas for three charges of intentional strangulation against Edla Marlborough between November 2022 and April 2024.
On Thursday, he appeared at Oxford Crown Court, where a court indictment said he is also charged with two counts of controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship towards Ms Marlborough between 29 December 2015 and 8 September 2024.
He was not asked to formally enter pleas to any of the five charges when he appeared before Judge Ian Pringle KC at Oxford Crown Court on Thursday. He was granted conditional bail and a provisional trial date was set for January 10 2028.
High Wycombe Magistrates’ Court last month heard that 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 13 November 2022.
The court was told Ms Marlborough ran into a laundry room on 23 April 2023, 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 29 January 2024. He indicated not guilty pleas to the three counts last month.
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.
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 married 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.
Blenheim is owned and managed by the Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.
A spokesperson for the foundation previously 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.”
