British Constance Marten, the scion of an aristocratic family, who is accused of negligently killing her baby with her partner while on the run from welfare services in January 2023, today denied before a British court any abuse of little Victoria.

The accused, aged 36, heir to a family historically close to the royal family, gave, to everyone’s surprise, before the criminal court at the Old Bailey in London, claiming that she had never put her days-old baby in danger.

“Mark and I love our children more than anyone in the entire world,” Constance Marten testified, assuring the infant was not abused or exposed to the cold during their escape and the nights he spent in a scene in the middle of winter.

“I feel guilty because she was in my hands,” the woman said, however, claiming she fell asleep before waking up to find Victoria dead, which caused her “shock and a tremendous amount of pain.”

In early 2023, the elopement of Constance Marten and Mark Gordon, aged 49, made headlines in the British press. From the couple, who lived on the fringes of society, the social services had taken their other four children and they were avoiding the police and social welfare authorities in an attempt to keep their newborn child close to them.

They were arrested on February 27, 2023 in Brighton (southern England), after months of frantic escapes, sleeping in hotels, then a tent, while spending hundreds of pounds on taxis across the country.

Little Victoria, who was born outside the hospital, was found dead on March 1 inside a supermarket bag, which had been left inside an abandoned warehouse.

About her escape, Constance Marten, who admitted she wanted a “normal life”, struggled to recall details. “It’s hard to remember because we moved around so much,” he confessed.

The two defendants are on trial for manslaughter, concealing the birth of a child and cruelty to a child. They maintain that they are innocent.

According to a pathologist who testified in court this week, Victoria may have died from the cold or suffered sudden infant death syndrome, but the exact cause of her death cannot be determined.

Before they met in the UK, Constance Marten’s partner, Mark Gordon, spent 20 years in an American prison for rape, British media reports.