Princess Diana's family member on trial for strangling

A member of Princess Diana's extended family has found himself at the center of a serious legal storm.

Charles James Spencer-Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough and a relative of both Sir Winston Churchill and Diana has been charged with three counts of non-fatal intentional strangulation, police have confirmed.

The 70-year-old aristocrat, formerly known as Jamie Blandford, is accused of committing the offenses against the same individual over a period extending from November 2022 to May 2024.

Thames Valley Police said the alleged incidents took place in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

Spencer-Churchill was arrested on 13 May last year and has now been summoned to appear at Oxford Magistrates' Court on Thursday, where the charges will be formally addressed.

Charles James Spencer-Churchill carries a lineage that reads like a chapter from the history books.

He is the eldest surviving son of the 11th Duke of Marlborough and his first wife, Susan Mary Hornby, and through the illustrious Spencer bloodline counts both wartime leader Sir Winston Churchill and the late Diana among his extended relations.

The dukedom passed to Spencer-Churchill in 2014 after his father’s death, elevating him to the title of Duke of Marlborough.

Before stepping into that role, the twice-married nobleman was widely known as the Marquess of Blandford and to many simply as Jamie Blandford.