An aristocrat whose family owns a stately home which featured on Netflix smash hit Bridgerton has been charged with attempting to rape a woman.
The allegations against Honourable Simon Howard, 65, date back to the early 2000s and involve one woman but he is in poor health and it is unclear if he will be fit to stand trial at all.
For 30 years Howard was the custodian of Castle Howard, which is considered one of Britain's great stately homes and became famous as the setting for Brideshead Revisited in the 1981 TV mini series.
More recently Castle Howard, which has been home to ten generations of the Howard family for more than 300 years, featured as a setting in the Netflix lockdown hit, Bridgerton.
Honourable Simon Howard (pictured), 65, has been charged with attempting to rape a woman
For 30 years, Howard was the custodian of Castle Howard (pictured), which became famous as the setting for Brideshead Revisited in the 1981 TV mini series and featured in Bridgerton
He appeared before York magistrates on Thursday August 26th accused of three offences against one woman.
He faces two counts of attempted rape of a woman aged 16 years or over at an address in North Yorkshire between dates in 2003 and 2004 and a further count of indecent assault on the same woman, at the same address, also between 2003 and 2004.
It is expected he will deny the charges.
The Howard family issued a statement through its publicist Abel Hadden.
It said: 'Following an interview under police caution at Scarborough police station on Wednesday 11 August, the Hon Simon Howard of Malton, North Yorkshire has been charged with two offences under the Sexual Offences Act 1956.
Castle Howard, which has been home to ten generations of the Howard family for more than 300 years, featured as Clyvedon Castle in the Netflix lockdown hit, Bridgerton (pictured)
On Bridgerton's (pictured) release, Sally Joynson, chief executive at Screen Yorkshire, said that Castle Howard looked 'magnificent on screen in the drama'
Castle Howard, which has 145 rooms, is considered one of the finest stately homes in the UK and featured in the classic TV series Brideshead Revisited (pictured)
'The two alleged offences - attempted rape and indecent assault - involve an unnamed woman over the age of 16 and are said to have taken place at Castle Howard between June 2003 and February 2004.
'In early 2020 he suffered a brain haemorrhage after a fall and was put into a medically-induced coma before spending months at a neurological rehabilitation centre where he contracted Covid.
'His wife Rebecca was told on two separate occasions that he might only have hours to
