A court hearing for the Duke of Marlborough on charges of intentional strangulation has been adjourned.
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 70, formerly known as Jamie Blandford, is accused of attacking the same person in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, three times over an 18-month period.
He was due to appear at Oxford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday morning charged with three counts of non-fatal intentional strangulation.
Thames Valley Police said a new court date had yet to be confirmed.
The attacks are alleged to have taken place between November 2022 and May 2024, police said.
The twice-married aristocrat, formerly known as the Marquess of Blandford, was arrested on 13 May 2024.
He inherited his dukedom in 2014, following the death of his father, the 11th Duke of Marlborough.
He is a first cousin, three times removed, of Sir Winston Churchill and a distant relative of the late Princess Diana through the Spencer family.
His ancestral family home is Blenheim Palace in Woodstock – Sir Winston’s birthplace – which is owned and managed by Blenheim Palace Heritage Foundation.
The foundation said it was “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”.
