The 11th Duke of Marlborough went to court in 1994 so his drug-addicted heir would never control Blenheim Palace

John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, owned Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. His heir was his eldest surviving son, Jamie, Marquess of Blandford, born in 1955. Jamie's drug addiction was public. In 1994 the Duke won a court battle in the High Court^† to make sure his son would never gain control of the family seat. The palace and estate stayed under trustees. In 1995 Jamie spent a month in prison for forging prescriptions. In September 2007 he was jailed for six months on two counts of dangerous driving and one of criminal damage after a road-rage attack on another driver's car, and was banned from driving for three and a half years. The Telegraph later reported a turnaround in his relationship with his father. The 11th Duke died on 16 October 2014, aged 88, and Jamie became 12th Duke that day. A Blenheim spokesman said the palace would remain under the control of trustees and that the new Duke could become one of them. In 2022 a court ordered him to give up a Porsche Cayenne after an unpaid balance of £64,472.70. In May 2024 he was charged with strangling his estranged second wife, Edla, and later with controlling or coercive behaviour. He has pleaded not guilty at Oxford Crown Court. These are allegations; a provisional trial date of 10 January 2028 is set. His heir in 2026 is his son George, Marquess of Blandford, born in 1992.