Rosita Spencer-Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough

Dagmar Rosita Astrid Libertas, Duchess of Marlborough (nee Douglas, sometimes Spencer-Churchill; born 26 September 1943, Madrid) is a British artist of Swedish and German descent. She was the third wife of John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke Marlborough, from 1972 until their divorced in 2008.

Early Life

She was born as Countess Rosita Douglas in Madrid, Spain, the younger daughter of Count Carl Ludvig Douglas (1908-1961), a Swedish nobleman and diplomat who was Royal Swedish Ambassador to Brazil and his Prussian wife Ottora Maria Haas-Heye (1910-2001), maternal granddaughter of Prince Philip, 1st Prince of Eulenburg and Hertefeld, by his wife Augusta, Countess of Sandels. She grew up as a diplomat's child, travelling all over the world but spent her summers at the family home, the castle of Stjarnorp, which belonged to Rosita's paternal grandfather, General Archibald Douglas.

Rosita Douglas attended schools in Sweden and in Washington DC. She studied arts at Sweden's renowned art school Konstfack in Stockholm, and then at the Ecole national Arts Decos, Ecole des Arts Decoratifs in Paris. While in Paris she also worked for the framed fashion designer, Emmanuel Ungaro and later as a freelance designer in London.

Marriage and Divorced

On 20 May 1972, Rosita Douglas became the third wife of John Spencer-Churchill, 11th Duke of Marlborough, an Englishman who had inherited his father's estates and titles two months before. She thus became Duchess of Marlborough, with a number of residences which included Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire. They had three children:

-Lord Richard Spencer-Churchill (born 1973, died four months later as an infant)

-Lord Edward Albert Charles Spencer-Churchill (born 1974)

-Lady Alexandra Elizabeth Spencer-Churchill (born 1977)

The Duke and Duchess were divorced in 2008, after several years of living separately.

According to newspaper reports, the Duchess moved into a smaller house on the Blenheim estate and also bought herself a house in France.

Rosita Marlborough As a Painter

In 1992, the duchess returned to art as a professional. She has had two solo exhibitions in London and one in Palm Beach. Her first show in London in 1995 featured figurative paintings. Since then, she traveled to Morocco in 1996, and her paintings of Moroccan themes sold briskly. She has since exhibited and sold paintings in London, New York, and Palm Beach. Her paintings and sculptures are in collections around the world.

She has also had a retrospective Rosita Marlborough: A Retrospective at the Elizabeth C. Wilson Museum at the Southern Vermont Arts Center from July 15-September 1 2006.

Family Connections

Rosita Marlborough is a maternal aunt and godmother of Princess Sophie, The Hereditary Princess of Liechtenstein and maternal aunt of her sisters, Duchess Marie-Caroline, Duchess Helene, Duchess Elisabeth and Duchess Maria-Anna, who are all Princesses of Bavaria. Her elder Princess Elisabeth (b. 1940) is married to Prince Max, Duke of Bavaria heir presumptive to the Headship of the Royal House of Bavaria and also heir presumptive to the Jacobite pretensions to the thrones of England, Scotland, Ireland, and France. Her elder brother is Swedish businessman Count Gustaf Douglas.

Her maternal aunt was Libertas Schulze-Boysen nee Haas-Heye (1913-1942), who with her husband, Harro Schulze-Boysen (1909-1942) were executed by the Nazis. Her maternal great-grandfather was Prince Philip, 1st Prince of Eulenburg and Hetefeld (a best friend of Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany), whose youngest child Princess Viktoria Ada Astrid Agnes of Eulenburg and Hertefeld (1886-1967) married 1909 (divorced in 1921) professor Otto Ludwig Haas-Heye (1879-1959) and had issue, including two daughters. Rosita descends through both her mother and father from medieval Scandinavian nobility and rulers.

However, her father's patriline is Scottish, of the Swedish-German branch, descendant via two obscure generations, descendants from the youngest son of James Douglas, 1st Baron of Dalkeith, ancestor of the 15th century Earls of Morton. All these Douglases were of the Morton branch of the ancient Douglas family.

Titles and Styles

1943-1972: Countess Dagmar Rosita Astrid Libertas Douglas-Stjernorp Muhlhausen Langenstein

1972-2008: Her Grace The Duchess of Marlborough

2008-present: Rosita, Duchess of Marlborough

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