BRISTOL, England, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- A younger son of the duke of Beaufort pleaded guilty Monday to physical assaults on his wife, some of them taking place at the family's historic seat.
Lord Edward Somerset was warned he could get a term in prison, the Daily Mirror reported. He was allowed to remain free on bail pending sentencing.
At a hearing in Bristol Crown Court, Judge Edward Horton was advised Somerset, 55, and his wife, Lady Caroline, are in the midst of a divorce. The couple have been married for 22 years.
The Somerset family has lived in Badminton House in Gloucestershire since the late 17th century after Raglan Castle was heavily damaged in the Civil War. Queen Mary, grandmother of Queen Elizabeth II, spent the World War II years at Badminton, with the duchess of the time responding to a question on which part of the house the dowager queen occupied by saying "all of it."
