Alexander Montagu, 13th Duke of Manchester

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His Grace
The Duke of Manchester
Personal details
Born
Alexander Charles David Drogo Montagu

(1962-12-11) 11 December 1962 (age 59)
Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
NationalityAustralian
British
Spouse(s)
Marion Stoner
​
​
(m. 1984; div. 1996)​

Wendy Dawn Buford
​
​
(m. 1993; div. 2006)​

Laura Ann Smith
​
(m. 2007)​
ChildrenAlexander Montagu, Viscount Mandeville (b. 1993)
Lady Ashley Montagu (b. 1999)
Parent(s)Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester
Mary Eveleen McClure

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.

Biography[]

The 13th Duke is the son of Angus Montagu, 12th Duke of Manchester, and first wife Australian native Mary Eveleen (née McClure), a newspaper columnist.

Marriages, issue and criminal charges[]

In Australia in 1984, Montagu married firstly Marion Stoner, an Australian model who was 20 years older. The relationship lasted two months; Stoner left after accusing Alexander of firing a speargun at her.[1][2] 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.[3]

After immigrating to the United States in 1986, he married secondly in California in May 1993 Wendy Dawn Buford, daughter of Michael Randolph Buford (Orange, Orange County, California, 23 April 1947), a construction salesman, and his first wife Phyllis J. Messina (born 1949).

They previously had a son, also named Alexander Michael Charles David Francis George Edward William Kimble Drogo Montagu, styled "Viscount Mandeville", born in Orange, Orange County, California, on 13 March 1993.[4][5] As his parents were not lawfully married at the time of his birth, he is neither entitled to the style of "Viscount Mandeville", and nor is he eligible to inherit the dukedom. This is because his father did not obtain a divorce from his first wife until 1996, three years after his second marriage. They had a second child, Lady Ashley Faith Maxine Nell Montagu, on 16 June 1999.[6][7]

Montagu and Buford separated after 15 years and divorced in 2006. He then remarried thirdly on 21 September 2007 an American real estate agent named Laura Ann Smith, without issue.[3] In 2009, the duke reportedly then revealed that his marriage to Buford 1993 marriage was invalid as he had still been married to his first wife in Australia. He stopped making child support payments and the family trust cut off funds to the children.[3][4] 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".[5] Under the Legitimacy Act 1959, the children of void marriages should be legally considered legitimate if "at the time of the act of intercourse resulting in the birth" or at time of the wedding if either party "reasonably believed" that the marriage was indeed valid.[5]

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.[3] However, after failing to repay the debt and failing to appear in court, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest in June 2014.[2]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Midgley, Dominic (22 July 2015). "The Dukes of disgrace: Bad behaviour runs in the family..." Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ a b c d Barlass, Tim (27 January 2013). "Dastardly duke strikes again". The Sun Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  4. ^ a b Sherwell, Philip (24 July 2011). "The bigamist Duke and his three wives". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  5. ^ a b c "Children of duke's bigamous marriage can benefit from trusts". Solicitors Journal. 26 July 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  6. ^ "Jackson Case: What the jury didn't hear". CNN. 31 December 2007. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
  7. ^ "Montagu, Alexander". California Birth Index. Retrieved 17 September 2015.
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Duke of Manchester
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