John George Vanderbilt Henry Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of
Marlborough, JP, DL, was the son of Lt.-Col. John Spencer-Churchill, 10th
Duke of Marlborough, and his wife, the Hon. Alexandra Mary Hilda Cadogan.
He was a relative of the Duke of Devonshire and a generational cousin of
the war-time Conservative Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill. He was
also a distant relative of Diana, Princess of Wales, as both belonged to
the Spencer family, and of the Vanderbilt family through his paternal
grandmother, Consuelo Vanderbilt. His principal seat was Blenheim Palace,
in Woodstock, Oxfordshire. He was ranked 224th in the Sunday Times Rich List
2004, with an estimated wealth of £185 million. His death was announced on 16
October 2014 by Blenheim Palace. Life and work
He was educated at Eton College and served seven years in the Life Guards,
in which achieved the rank of Captain. In 1972, on inheriting the Dukedom of
Marlborough, he took over the management of Blenheim Palace and the Blenheim
estate. In order to fund the maintenance of the
house, he opened it to visitors and as a film set, and established a number of
businesses, including a garden furniture company and a water bottling plant.
He was also active in a range of organisations, including the Thames and
Chilterns Tourist Board and Oxford United Football Club. He served as Vice
President of Witney Conservatives, the local party of David Cameron.
Marriages & Children Marlborough was married four times and
had a total of six children, two of whom died in infancy.
Firstly he married Susan Mary Hornby, daughter of Michael Charles St John
Hornby and Nicolette Joan Ward, on 19 October 1951. They divorced in 1961
after having three children: John David Ivor Spencer-Churchill, Earl
of Sunderland, a god-son of Princess Margaret
Charles James Spencer-Churchill, 12th Duke of Marlborough
Lady Henrietta Mary Spencer-Churchill Secondly, on 23 October 1961 he married
Athina Onassis, née Livanos, former wife of Aristotle Onassis, and daughter of
Stavros Livanos. They were divorced in 1971 and had no children.
Thirdly, on 20 May 1972 he married Countess Rosita Douglas-Stjernorp,
daughter of ambassador Count Carl Douglas-Stjernorp and Ottora Haas-Heye.
They had three children and were divorced on 15 May 2008:
Lord Richard Spencer-Churchill Lord Edward Albert Charles
Spencer-Churchill Lady Alexandra Elizabeth
Spencer-Churchill Finally, Marlborough married Lily
Mahtani, née Sahni, on 3 December 2008 in the Private Chapel at Blenheim. She
was formerly the wife of Ratan Mahtani, a wealthy Indian expatriate businessman,
by whom she had three children. There were no children from this marriage.
Ancestry Titles and appointments
= Titles= Earl of Sunderland
Marquess of Blandford His Grace The Duke of Marlborough
= Appointments= Justice of the Peace
Deputy Lieutenant of Oxfordshire Arms
References External links
Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by John Spencer-Churchill,
11th Duke of Marlborough Duke of Marlborough at the Internet
Movie Database Cast of Branagh's Hamlet
Elizabeth Sanderson. "How a Persian beauty reunited the grumpy Duke with
black sheep son he disinherited" Daily Mail 17 August 2008. The article online
also includes photographs of Jamie Spencer-Churchill, Marquess of
Blandford, his second wife Edla, and his elder son George.
James Reginato. "Magnificent Obsession" Vanity Fair June 2011