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, against the same person.
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.
The Duke, formerly known as Jamie Blandford, is a distant cousin of Princess Diana, as she was a descendant of the Spencer-Churchill line, which included the first Duke of Marlborough, John Churchill.
He is the 12th Duke of Marlborough and also a relative of Winston Churchill, who is his first cousin three times removed.
His ancestral home is Blenheim Palace, the 300-year-old estate where Churchill was born.
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The Duke of Marlborough (pictured), formerly known as Jamie Blandford, has been charged with three counts of intentional strangulation
Blenheim Palace, the 300-year-old estate where Churchill was born, is also the Duke’s ancestral home