Colourful Duke of Marlborough, who once entertained Donald Trump at his Blenheim Palace residence, separates from his second wife after 22 years... and a number of previous marital squalls

His immense inheritance includes 11,500 Oxfordshire acres and a stately pile larger than Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle – a disparity which caused George III to acknowledge that he had 'nothing to equal' it. 

But it was his second marriage, rather than his almost unimaginable material blessings, that moved a friend to describe Jamie Blandford – now the Duke of Marlborough – as 'a very lucky man'.

His bride was the delightful, down-to-earth Edla Griffiths, from Abergavenny, Monmouthshire, whom the then Marquess of Blandford encountered while she was living in Chelsea, perfecting her craft as a ceramicist. 

They married in 2002, at the register office in Woodstock, the honey-stoned town separated by the estate wall from 2,000 acres of parkland, at the heart of which lies Blenheim Palace, whose roofs themselves cover a full three acres.

The Duke of Marlborough and Edla Griffiths (pictured) married in 2002 at the register office in Woodstock, Oxfordshire

The pair met while Edla was living in Chelsea, perfecting her craft as a ceramicist

Pictured: The Duke of Marlborough marries his first wife Becky Few-Brown 

But, to the dismay of friends, the union now appears to have run its course. 'Jamie and Edla have separated,' one tells me. 'It's very sad.'

The Duke, 68, who has a son and daughter, both teenagers, with Edla, 56, declines to comment. 

But he is not, apparently, bereft of female company. 'He's being comforted by a friend, Doune Murray,' I'm told.

Those hoping the marriage may yet be salvaged mention previous marital squalls.

The first was early in 2004, when Edla moved out, unamused that Jamie had wandered off for eight weeks – first to Australia, where he watched the Rugby World Cup, then to Switzerland, where he went skiing in Verbier, the resort where his chum, Paddy McNally – Fergie's first great love – entertained in style at his chalet.

Pictured: Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire - the residence of the Dukes of Marlborough 

Blenheim Palace (pictured) was built in the 18th century for John Churchill, the 1st Duke of Marlborough

Pictured: The gardens at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire 

The Duke of Marlborough's immense inheritance includes 11,500 Oxfordshire acres

Three years later came a still sterner test when a series of motoring and 'road-rage' offences saw Jamie jailed for six months. 

By then, Edla had already been credited by many – Jamie included – for 'settling him down' after his turbulent twenties and thirties, during which, at his lowest point, his desire for drugs regularly led him to the notorious Mozart Estate in north London.

She now made it plain that he was going to lose her unless he reformed for good. He duly did – aware that his first marriage, to Becky Few-Brown, with whom he had a son, George, now the Marquess of Blandford, had foundered because of hard-partying ways which once saw him shoot out Verbier's streetlights with a shotgun, perhaps destabilised by McNally's hospitality.

In recent years, he has done nothing more controversial than form a bond with Donald Trump, in whose honour a banquet was held at Blenheim in 2018. That couldn't have persuaded Edla to call it a day...could it?