Alexander Charles David Drogo Montagu, 13th Duke of Manchester (born 11 December 1962), is an Australian-born British hereditary peer, inheriting the dukedom of Manchester from his father in 2002. He is a British and Australian citizen and has lived in the United States since 1986. He has been convicted of fraud, burglary, and other offences and has served several prison sentences in Australia and the United States.
The Duke of Manchester | |
|---|---|
| Personal details | |
| Born | Alexander Charles David Drogo Montagu 11 December 1962 Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian British |
| Spouses | Marion Stoner
(m. 1984; div. 1996)Wendy Dawn Buford
(m. 1993; div. 2006)Laura Ann Smith (m. 2007) |
| Children | Alexander Montagu Ashley Montagu |
| Parent(s) | Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester Mary Eveleen McClure |
Biography
editThe 13th Duke is the son of Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester, and his first wife, newspaper columnist Mary Eveleen, daughter of Walter Gillespie McClure, of Geelong, Victoria, Australia.[1]
In Australia in 1984, Montagu married firstly Marion Stoner, an Australian model who was 11 years older than he. The relationship lasted two months; Stoner left after accusing Montagu of firing a speargun at her.[2][3] In 1985, Montagu was sentenced to three years in prison after being convicted of 22 charges of fraud. In 1991, he was arrested again in Brisbane after he sold a car he had rented.[4]
After emigrating to the United States in 1986, he married secondly in California in May 1993 Wendy Dawn Buford, daughter of a construction salesman. They had a son, Alexander Michael Charles David Francis George Edward William Kimble Drogo Montagu, born in 1993.[5][6] Montagu did not obtain a divorce from his first wife until 1996, three years after his second marriage. Buford bore Montagu a second child, Ashley Faith Maxine Nell Montagu, in 1999.[7][8] Montagu and Buford separated after 15 years and were divorced in 2006.
Manchester, as he was styled by now, then married a third time on 21 September 2007. His third wife was an American real estate agent named Laura Ann Smith, and the marriage was without issue.[4] In 2009, the duke reportedly then revealed that his marriage to Buford in 1993 had been invalid, as he had still been married to his first wife in Australia. On these grounds, he stopped making child support payments and the family trust cut off funds to his children.[4][5] Buford successfully sued on behalf of their two children. In 2011, High Court Justice Christopher Floyd ruled that the two children, even though they were born when their parents were not lawfully married, were entitled to trust funds, as "(Buford) reasonably believed the marriage was valid".[6] Under the Legitimacy Act 1959, the children of void marriages can benefit from family trusts if, "at the time of the act of intercourse resulting in the birth" or at time of the wedding, either party "reasonably believed" that the marriage was indeed valid.[6]
In 2013, the duke was charged again with fraud in Las Vegas for reportedly knowingly passing a $3,575 check in 2011 without "funds, property or credit" to back up the check. He pleaded no contest to the charge and received a 90-day suspended sentence and six months to repay the debt.[4] After he failed to repay the debt and failed to appear in court, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in June 2014.[3] In 2016, he was accused of burglary and making a false police report.[9][10][11][12] He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2017, which he served in High Desert State Prison.[11]
References
edit- ^ Burke's Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage, 107th edition, vol. 2, ed. Charles Mosley, Burke's Peerage Ltd, 2003, p. 2587
- ^ Midgley, Dominic (22 July 2015). "The Dukes of disgrace: Bad behaviour runs in the family..." Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ a b Barlass, Tim (8 June 2014). "Bigamist Duke Alex Montagu in trouble again for no-show in Las Vegas court". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ a b c d Barlass, Tim (27 January 2013). "Dastardly duke strikes again". Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 22 December 2022. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ a b Sherwell, Philip (24 July 2011). "The bigamist Duke and his three wives". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ a b c "Children of duke's bigamous marriage can benefit from trusts". Solicitors Journal. 26 July 2011. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "Jackson Case: What the jury didn't hear". CNN. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "Montagu, Alexander". California Birth Index. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
- ^ "Duke of Manchester to remain in Las Vegas jail". The Guardian. Retrieved 10 February 2023.
- ^ Ritter, Ken (29 August 2016). "Man claiming British royal title jailed in 3 Las Vegas cases". CTVNews.
- ^ a b Fiegener, Craig (24 January 2017). "Man claiming to be a British royal will face prison time in Nevada". KSNV.
- ^ "Man held in Las Vegas claiming royal title appears in court". Belfasttelegraph.co.uk. 30 August 2016 – via www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk.
