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Winston Churchill was descended from John Spencer-Churchill, 7th Duke of Marlborough. His father Randolph was the 7th Duke's second son. His uncle George was the 8th Duke, and his first cousin Charles was the 8th Duke's only son. Charles succeeded as the 9th Duke in 1892.

Charles was unmarried, so his heir presumptive was his uncle Randolph, and after Randolph's death in 1895, his cousin Winston.

Charles married American heiress Consuelo Vanderbilt in 1895; their first son was born in 1897 and their second son in 1898. (Consuelo called them "The heir and the spare".)

Thus for two years, Winston was heir presumptive to the Dukedom. If Charles had not begotten a son, he would remain heir presumptive, and would have succeeded as Duke when Charles died (1934 in OTL, aged 63).

This poses many possible WIs.

  • Charles dies young, and Winston succeeds in the 1890s. This would largely abort his political career. After 1900, the action was in the Commons; peers still had a role to play, but it diminished rapidly.
  • Winston remains the heir presumptive through the 1900s and into the 1930s. How does this influence his political career?
  • Winston succeds in the 1930s, which would take him from Commons and somewhat disqualify him from Prime Minister.
  • Charles lives until 1941 or so, and Winston becomes Duke while PM. How does that affect his leadership of Britain, his relations with FDR, his image in the U.S.? The first duke was a great general, and I could see the linkage being a positive; but the heavy aristocratic associations would hurt, too.
Note: Churchill's personal recklessness (serving on the Western Front of WW I, playing polo into his 40s) probably is not constrained by this. His younger brother John is available to inherit the title, and after 1911 Winston's son Randolph.
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