The Third Marriage of Alexander, 13th Duke of Manchester

The Marriage of Alexander, 13th Duke of Manchester to Laura Anne Smith

September 21, 2007 - Alex marries Laura Ann Smith, a spinster in her 40s whose father was a farmer in Michigan, where she grew up.Laura told us she had grown up in Laguna Beach. 

This is untrue. 

She attended Holly High School in Holly, Michigan and was born in that state.

Laura's life has little glamor.

Laura functions as Alex's public relations agent and attack dog. This is not a job she is qualified to hold, but she is all Alex can afford. In addition, Laura, who in other circumstances was kindly and understood right from wrong, has placed herself in a position where she cannot say,”no,” without being subjected to unending diatribes from Alex.

These have been heard by individuals who kept listening when Alex thought he had hung up the phone.

Dressed up and in person Laura is persuasive. She is attractive and coherent, generally, when speaking if the subject does not require too much intellect. However, if, or when, she is subjected to either deposition or giving evidence under penalty of perjury this will fall apart. It is impossible to remember complex lies and Laura's memory is not good, in any case.

Laura, how long until you and Alex are, again, evicted? By now you realize Alex is always evicted after about a year, if his behavior has been consistent with that exhibited during his marriage to Wendy.

Laura chose to marry and stay married to Alexander, 13th Duke of Manchester because, as indicated earlier, her choices were becoming somewhat limited due to her advancing age and lack of job skills.

Here is some advice Laura should read carefully and take to heart.

During the last three months of 2008 Laura tried to find another man. This effort failed.

Instead of listening to her friends, including Wendy, and family, Laura decided to remain married to Alex after leaving him in October of 2008 and living, for three months, with Wendy Buford Montagu and Wendy's two children. This was an act of charity on Wendy's part. She knew from experience how Alex operates and had faced the same choice herself.

Alex had tried to get Wendy to go back to him shortly after initiating the divorce in early 2007 as a way to assert more control over her actions. Wendy understood if she returned she would lose, forever, the support and potential assistance of the friends and family who had stuck by her for so many years.

So she told her children, who Alex had primed and manipulated to beg her to return, she could not allow them to grow up seeing a woman treated as Alex had been treating her. The next months were hellish, filled with false accusations from Alex and a continuation of the manipulations which had always been a part of his asserted control over her.

On August 23rd Alex lost physical custody of the children. This was due to facts which had come before the court. These included his false changes, attempts to manipulate the children, lying to the court regarding his assets (he claimed to be indigent but had over a half million in his bank account) and consistent failure to follow the orders of the court. The transcript of the judgment is available HERE.

Neither child speaks to Alex or has a desire to see him.

Laura left Alex in October, 2008 and ended up living with Wendy from early October until she returned to Alex on December 30th. Laura claimed to be finished with Alex, who she said was crazy, violent and frightening. Wendy's friends and the pastor of the church where Wendy and the kids still attended, thought Laura was astonishingly stupid but agreed she seemed nice and thought removing her from an impossible situation was kind.

Laura had experienced, she said, the same kind of obsessive, controlling behavior Alex had meted out to Wendy. Many of her friends had peeled off and stopped returning her calls, because of Alex, Laura said. And her family all feared and despised him.

This gave Laura and Wendy a lot to talk about. And they did.

The couple, Alex and Laura, had spent the previous summer in Michigan, living near Laura's mother, but Alex's behavior had made it impossible for them to stay. Alex left first, returning to Southern California to rent an apartment in Redondo Beach, leaving Laura's possessions in a storage unit in Michigan.

Not many former wives would have been so generous, Wendy was. Over the three months she got to know Laura very well. Laura spent both Thanksgiving and Christmas with Wendy and the children that year, spending time with Wendy's parents on Christmas Day.

Several incidents made a significant impact on Wendy as she observed Laura's behavior.

Wendy found Laura to be compassionate and worried about the many wrongs Alex had done to his family. While she was staying with Wendy the two of them attempted to inform two separate auto dealers who Alex had 'bought' cars from, either bouncing checks of stopping payments, about the location of the cars so the repossession process could be completed. One of these, Wendy remembers, was a red PT Cruiser siding.

Wendy does not believe Alex had a valid driver's license at this time.

Laura's time was generally spent on her appearance, exercising, and talking to men. On one occasion Laura complained a man she had known previously, (name withheld) wanted a massage for free. Laura expected to be paid for such services.

The second incident, which Wendy reported, began with a request from Laura for Wendy to accompany her on a date with an old 'friend.' Wendy, surprised, agreed since Laura promised they would go out to dinner at a nice place, her friend's treat.

They met the man, (name withheld) at his hotel, The Inn at Laguna Beach, which is next to Las Brisas. From there they walked down the street to Mosun Sushi, which is south, on the other side of the boardwalk, the land side.

Wendy, sitting across from the couple, watched as Laura's date put his arm around her and they leaned together. At this point, Wendy believed Laura would not return to Alex but commented it seemed strange watching her former husband's wife, still married, nuzzling another man. The thought occurred to her Laura might spend the night with him, given her behavior. But this did not occur.

She and Laura returned to their car, Laura removed her heels and walked barefoot along the boardwalk because her feet hurt. She then stopped to put dog poop baggies on her feet for some protection. They were, Wendy said, skipping and laughing. This occurred just before Christmas. On the way home they sang. It was, Wendy said, a fun night.

Laura announced she was leaving on December 30th, 2008. She told Wendy she had to do what she had to do.  She wanted to market the Duke and Duchess personas and build a business. 

Laura, it is not too late. Call your mother. There are people who care about you.