In the past several weeks public interest has again been piqued regarding several items published on the web either by Alex, Duke of Manchester, his wife, Laura, and more mainstream journalists.. These varied offerings are fleshing out a picture of this unusual peer of the realm, adding to the barrage of articles published last summer around an unusual trial held in the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division on July 19, 2011.
The trial took place due to a report by the Duke himself, admitting he was not divorced from his first wife at the time of his 1993 wedding to Wendy Buford, the mother of his children. Thus his children were illegitimate by law in England. The Chancery Court however found the children could continue to receive monies from the Manchester Trust, much to the Duke's displeasure.
This callousness and lack of empathy shown by the Duke bears striking similarity to one characteristic of a sociopath. But there is more to come.
An affidavit by second wife, Wendy Buford Montagu, given under penalty of perjury, revealed a time line suggesting motives, on the part of the Duke, which were simply appalling. The Duke seems to have believed he would benefit by $3,000 a month if the two children's support, which he refused to pay, and was being made up by the Manchester Trust, became unpayable by the Trust according to his former wife and the mother of the two children, Wendy Buford Montagu.
Wendy also believes the Duke married her because he needed a regular source of support and planned all along to eventually leave her, alienating the children to his own advantage. This view is supported by psychological reports in the divorce court documents and also conforms to sociopathic behavior.
The deluge of articles appearing in the wake of the July 2011 trial were typified by such language as this, appearing in the Telegraph by Philip Sherwell , "His scandal-ridden life has thus far seen him married three times, imprisoned twice in Australia, deported from Canada and exposed as a bigamist. But, even now, in his 50th year, the 13th Duke of Manchester shows no sign of tempering his famously erratic behaviour.”
In the wake of the trial the Duke's expressed concerns were to 'clear his name,' in regards the charges of bigamy, though an examination of the evidence leaves no doubt as to the sequent of events. Duke Alex blames everyone else, refusing to acknowledge or accept his own acts. He is glib, using his superficial charm to manipulate his listeners and readily changes his story, again the behavior of a sociopath.
On January 8th this low in human decency was challenged by yet another appearance by Duke Alex, this time in a comment appearing on the Huffington Post website. The Duke intimated the Royal Family might be involved in the murder of a girl whose body was found on their Sandringham Estate while the Queen was staying there.
An article, written by journalist Richard Kay, writing for the Mailonline.com, soon followed, appearing on January 16th. titled, “Duke in sick attack on the Royal Family.”
Duke Alex's first comment, now removed from the site, is quoted below without correction was, “This is not a Joke my name is Alexander Montagu the 13th Duke of Manchester I have been accused of bigimie and it is all a lie I have documented proof that my trust and lawyers and mother has set me up for something I have never done the Royal family has a lot of power and will do what ever they can to cover up any sort of embarasement even if the victim is 100% in the write and has the legeal documentation to proove this you should look up the duchess of manchester under google and you will see the documentation to see how the royal family will do what ever they can to cover any thing they can stop look investigate I can also let people know maybe people should look into the cameras around Sandringham around the Queens property.” It is all about him, no one else matters and he cannot even see how his inconsistency impacts those around him. Sociopathic.
The case of murder has no apparent connection to the Royal family except for the disposal of the victim's body, according to authorities. Alex, who must embarrass any member of the aristocracy, was, as of last November, living in Las Vegas and receiving his mail at “8414 Farm Rd. # 180, Las Vegas, Nevada, 89131” He has been using “220 Newport Center Drive Suit (sic)# 11, Newport Beach, California 92660” for years – but, according to his own statements, is afraid to return to California because, “the police want to kill him.”
However, the ducal removal from California was arguably more likely related to the evasion of debt collectors than these more lurid causes. Based on information from several sources, the first of these being the former wife of Duke Alex, and the mother of his two children and his present, or nearly present, wife, Laura.
It became known to Wendy in 2008 that Alex was buying cars with bad checks when a Detective Anderson from Redondo Beach contacted her in an attempt to locate one of these vehicles for repossession. At the time the newly estranged Duchess Laura was living with Wendy, having exhausted her other options for housing. Wendy assisted Detective Anderson in the repossession attempt. The vehicle in question was a red P. T. Cruiser. In late September of 2011 Laura, then reunited with the Duke for some time, told this reporter, “Alex always writes bad checks for cars.” The Duke lurches through life without any long range plan.
Laura lived with Wendy from mid-October 2008 until the end of the year when she returned to Alex because she was without funds to keep her cherished cell phone number, which she has had for twenty years, active. The number is 213-926-0952. While Laura was living with Wendy and the two children the youngest child moved in to her mother's room so Laura, their guest, could have her room. Wendy gave Laura regular cash so she would not be without funds.
Wendy Buford married Alexander on 7th May 1993. The couple had met, according to an affidavit filed before the High Court of Justice, Chancery Division by Wendy Buford Montagu on 17th April 1992 while she, “attended a country music night club,” located in Orange County, California. According to the affidavit she was then, as now, employed at a law firm in the same county.
The same affidavit states he asked her to marry him soon afterward, making claims of an income of around $150,000 a month. She was, she says, to find his claims were heavily larded with lies in the years to come, which statement is validated by court documents.
After giving birth to their first child, a son named Alexander Michael Charles David Francis George Edward William Kimble Drogo Montagu (Alexander),Wendy continued to work, bringing in their only regular income. Although the then Viscount claimed to always be on the brink of making money, usually by selling German Bonds left to him by his grandfather, these long and arduous negotiations always fell through. This writer has learned from dealers these bonds are deemed to be nearly impossible to cash. This source of income never materialized yet Duke Alex, still today, continues to scheme and depend on obtaining the money.
In 1999 a second child, a daughter named Ashley, was born to the couple. Wendy continued to work. Alex assumed the role of stay-at-home mother, according to Wendy, who has been employed continuously at the same firm since the time of the marriage.
Duke Alex, according to Wendy, occasionally found a job but these were of short duration, generally ending in his being fired for a similar reason on each occasion. This was Alex's assumption he knew better how to run the company than did his employer, in this exhibiting a Grandiose Sense of Self.
“Alex went upstairs to his room the moment I came in the door. I was responsible for shopping, cooking, cleaning, and other domestic needs,” Wendy said, when interviewed for this article.
Although he had assumed the role of care-taker Wendy also reports the Duke would take off at a moment's notice. Finding alternative care was then her responsibility. The Duke demonstrated the train of emotional shallowness and self-serving.
After the birth of a daughter and 13 years of marriage the two divorced, at which time Duke Alex demanded custody of the children and alimony, this affirmed by records from the Orange County Family Law Court. The divorce was long, drawn-out, and acrimonious by all reports.
After many attempts to keep his financial affairs secret Duke Alexander was questioned on the stand from the records obtained through subpoena from his bank. The court took note of an amount amounting to around a million dollars then in his possession, this, according to Wendy Montagu, obtained from the sale of Manchester family heirlooms.
The Duke asked for, and was denied, alimony and lost temporary custody. At a hearing in August of 2007 Duke Alex asked the issues to the divorce be bifurcated. This was granted, the remainder of the issues being finalized in 2008. But the judge cautioned him not to, “run out and get married again.” Less than a month after the divorce from Wendy was final, Duke Alexander married his present wife, Laura Ann Smith, and relocated, rarely seeing the children thereafter. He did, however, leave in his wake thousands in debts, which his former wife is now being forced to pay.
According to documents from the court record and recent witnesses, the Duke's finances have been severely reduced since the end of his marriage to Wendy. From a capital base of around a million in 2007 the Duke, last summer and autumn, was reduced to asking for money to pay for ongoing projects from the people he had retained to work for him. Reluctant to assist, the people involved found themselves conned into helping, later realizing they had been skillfully manipulated. Money 'loaned' to the Duke they believed were used to pay for his gas, food and medicine, which includes psychotropic prescription drugs.
These funds were transferred to him through services supplied by Walmart in Las Vegas, where he had noisily broken up with his wife, Duchess Laura, reporting her to police for stealing the only remaining copies videos he had taken of Michael Jackson while married to Wendy Buford Montagu, who also appears in the photos. As these were community property it is not clear Alex was in legal possession of these materials. They had been stolen from the family home at the time of the divorce.
The same people found themselves paying for the Duke to file a divorce action against his wife. They then asked a contract be signed, something he had asked them to 'put off, as they could trust him.” When they pressed their request he blew up and began attacking them verbally and then threatening to kill them. These ended when these threats were reported to both their local police and to the FBI.
The most perfunctory of glances at posts, emails, and letters written by Alex prove he can neither punctuate or spell. Comments from others note he also finds logical thinking somewhat challenging.
Probably no one posting subsequent comments on the Huffington site believed Alex was, in fact, the Duke of Manchester. But Alex, no matter how unlikely, given his educational deficiencies, is without a doubt the present holder of the title and was raised with the full attention of his mother and grandfather.
The education accorded to Duke Alex included highly respected and expensive schools on at least three continents.
While this lack of proficiency would be viewed as tragic, if exhibited by a person with a disadvantaged background, having it appear in a peer of the realm is far more shocking and difficult to explain without further thought.
A quick perusal of the Profile of a Sociopath reveal many of the characteristics associated with the condition as being present in the ducal behavior.
If the Duke of Manchester is, indeed a sociopath his behavior is perfectly understandable.
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