This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/feb/03/our-fascination-with-lord-lucan-never-fades-but-who-was-he
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Who was Lord Lucan? | Who was Lord Lucan? |
| (21 days later) | |
| The myth and enduring mystery surrounding the disappearance of John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, has lost none of its fascination in more than 40 years. | The myth and enduring mystery surrounding the disappearance of John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan, has lost none of its fascination in more than 40 years. |
| That a death certificate has finally been issued – and his son George is legally able to inherit the family title – is just one more chapter in a story that looks unlikely to ever have a complete ending. | That a death certificate has finally been issued – and his son George is legally able to inherit the family title – is just one more chapter in a story that looks unlikely to ever have a complete ending. |
| Fantastic theories have placed the peer, who if alive would now be 81, as a hippy dropout in Goa, or backpacking on Mount Etna, working on a sheep station in the Australian outback, or being fed to tigers at a friend’s zoo. The most plausible, perhaps, is that he drowned himself, probably in the Channel. | Fantastic theories have placed the peer, who if alive would now be 81, as a hippy dropout in Goa, or backpacking on Mount Etna, working on a sheep station in the Australian outback, or being fed to tigers at a friend’s zoo. The most plausible, perhaps, is that he drowned himself, probably in the Channel. |
| At the time of the murder of Sandra Rivett, 29, the family’s nanny, Lucan was poised to lose everything. He was facing divorce from his wife Veronica, the Countess of Lucan, had lost custody of their three children in an acrimonious legal battle, and his gambling debts were out of control. | At the time of the murder of Sandra Rivett, 29, the family’s nanny, Lucan was poised to lose everything. He was facing divorce from his wife Veronica, the Countess of Lucan, had lost custody of their three children in an acrimonious legal battle, and his gambling debts were out of control. |
| His obsession with getting his children away from his estranged wife had led to him spying on her in a desperate attempt to discredit her. The general consensus among those who think him guilty is that he murdered Rivett in the mistaken belief in the dark and unlit basement that she was his wife. | His obsession with getting his children away from his estranged wife had led to him spying on her in a desperate attempt to discredit her. The general consensus among those who think him guilty is that he murdered Rivett in the mistaken belief in the dark and unlit basement that she was his wife. |
| Rivett was found bludgeoned to death with a lead pipe at the countess’s home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street on the evening of 7 November 1974. The countess was also attacked but managed to escape, running to the nearby Plumbers Arms pub covered in blood and screaming: “Help me, help me. I have just escaped from a murderer. He’s in my house. He’s murdered the nanny.” | Rivett was found bludgeoned to death with a lead pipe at the countess’s home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street on the evening of 7 November 1974. The countess was also attacked but managed to escape, running to the nearby Plumbers Arms pub covered in blood and screaming: “Help me, help me. I have just escaped from a murderer. He’s in my house. He’s murdered the nanny.” |
| Lucan is known to have driven 42 miles to the home of friends in the Sussex village of Uckfield, leaving them in the early hours. He recounted to them – and to his mother and other friends in a phone call and notes immediately after – that he had happened across his wife being attacked by a stranger in the house. He was lying “doggo” for a while, he said, because his wife had accused him of hiring a hitman and it didn’t look good for him. | Lucan is known to have driven 42 miles to the home of friends in the Sussex village of Uckfield, leaving them in the early hours. He recounted to them – and to his mother and other friends in a phone call and notes immediately after – that he had happened across his wife being attacked by a stranger in the house. He was lying “doggo” for a while, he said, because his wife had accused him of hiring a hitman and it didn’t look good for him. |
| Three days later his borrowed, blood-splattered Ford Corsair was found abandoned – with a section of bandaged lead piping in the boot – at the cross-Channel port of Newhaven, East Sussex. There has been no further clue to his whereabouts since. | Three days later his borrowed, blood-splattered Ford Corsair was found abandoned – with a section of bandaged lead piping in the boot – at the cross-Channel port of Newhaven, East Sussex. There has been no further clue to his whereabouts since. |
| In 1975, an inquest jury returned a verdict that Lucan had murdered Rivett. It was the last time a coroner had the power to commit a murder to crown court. | In 1975, an inquest jury returned a verdict that Lucan had murdered Rivett. It was the last time a coroner had the power to commit a murder to crown court. |
| The peer was legally declared dead by the courts in 1999, to allow his will to be settled, but the law at that time prevented the issuing of a formal death certificate, meaning his heir was barred from taking on the hereditary title. | The peer was legally declared dead by the courts in 1999, to allow his will to be settled, but the law at that time prevented the issuing of a formal death certificate, meaning his heir was barred from taking on the hereditary title. |
| Lucan was born in London to an Anglo-Irish peer, and counted among his forbears the 3rd Earl of Lucan, commander of the British cavalry who, acting on Lord Raglan’s orders, ordered Cardigan to lead the fateful Charge of the Light Brigade. | Lucan was born in London to an Anglo-Irish peer, and counted among his forbears the 3rd Earl of Lucan, commander of the British cavalry who, acting on Lord Raglan’s orders, ordered Cardigan to lead the fateful Charge of the Light Brigade. |
| Though he led a life of material privilege, Lucan’s early life saw him less blessed emotionally. Evacuated, aged six, to Wales and then north America during the second world war, he was separated from his parents for five years and on his return sent to Eton. | Though he led a life of material privilege, Lucan’s early life saw him less blessed emotionally. Evacuated, aged six, to Wales and then north America during the second world war, he was separated from his parents for five years and on his return sent to Eton. |
| Wealthy, charismatic, aristocratic, 6ft 2ins and with a luxuriant moustache, he led a decadent life. His expensive tastes included the best Russian vodka, power boats and smart cars. | Wealthy, charismatic, aristocratic, 6ft 2ins and with a luxuriant moustache, he led a decadent life. His expensive tastes included the best Russian vodka, power boats and smart cars. |
| He was a leading member of the Clermont Set – similarly wealthy society men who hung out at John Aspinall’s private Clermont gaming club in Berkeley Square. Sir James Goldsmith, father of the Conservative MP and London mayoral hopeful Zac and his socialite sister Jemima, was another prominent member. | He was a leading member of the Clermont Set – similarly wealthy society men who hung out at John Aspinall’s private Clermont gaming club in Berkeley Square. Sir James Goldsmith, father of the Conservative MP and London mayoral hopeful Zac and his socialite sister Jemima, was another prominent member. |
| A compulsive gambler, he was known as “Lucky Lucan” after winning £26,000 at the card game chemin de fer in Le Touquet. He immediately threw in his career as a merchant banker to become a professional gambler. Thereafter, however, his losses far outstripped his winnings. | A compulsive gambler, he was known as “Lucky Lucan” after winning £26,000 at the card game chemin de fer in Le Touquet. He immediately threw in his career as a merchant banker to become a professional gambler. Thereafter, however, his losses far outstripped his winnings. |
| His disappearance left many unanswered questions, and also suspicions, always denied, that some among his circle knew of his fate. | His disappearance left many unanswered questions, and also suspicions, always denied, that some among his circle knew of his fate. |
| In another twist in the decades-old mystery, claims that he shot himself and was then fed to a tiger named Zorra at Aspinall’s Howletts zoo were aired as recently as last month. Police reportedly investigated the theory at the time after Lady Osborne, Aspinall’s mother – and chancellor George Osborne’s grandmother – allegedly told them: “The last I heard of him he was being fed to the tigers at my son’s zoo.” Aspinall reportedly responded when questioned: “My tigers are only fed the choicest cuts – do you really think they’re going to eat stringy old Lucky?” | In another twist in the decades-old mystery, claims that he shot himself and was then fed to a tiger named Zorra at Aspinall’s Howletts zoo were aired as recently as last month. Police reportedly investigated the theory at the time after Lady Osborne, Aspinall’s mother – and chancellor George Osborne’s grandmother – allegedly told them: “The last I heard of him he was being fed to the tigers at my son’s zoo.” Aspinall reportedly responded when questioned: “My tigers are only fed the choicest cuts – do you really think they’re going to eat stringy old Lucky?” |
| A week after the murder, Aspinall, who died in 2000, told ITV News: “I find it difficult to imagine him in Brazil or Haiti as a fugitive. I don’t think he has the capacity to adapt.” | A week after the murder, Aspinall, who died in 2000, told ITV News: “I find it difficult to imagine him in Brazil or Haiti as a fugitive. I don’t think he has the capacity to adapt.” |
| Nevertheless, there have been alleged sightings in countries as far afield as India and Australia, and in Africa. One former Scotland Yard detective claimed he had been living in Goa, where he was known as “Jungle Barry”. A photograph of Jungle Barry, however, revealed him to be a folk singer from St Helens, well known on the northern pubs and clubs circuit, who had settled in India. He has since died. | Nevertheless, there have been alleged sightings in countries as far afield as India and Australia, and in Africa. One former Scotland Yard detective claimed he had been living in Goa, where he was known as “Jungle Barry”. A photograph of Jungle Barry, however, revealed him to be a folk singer from St Helens, well known on the northern pubs and clubs circuit, who had settled in India. He has since died. |
| Police have checked fingerprints on beer glasses in Cape Town and bank accounts in South America. Lucan has also reportedly been sighted at an ex-Nazi colony in Paraguay, working as a waiter in San Francisco, and living in a car in Marton, New Zealand. | Police have checked fingerprints on beer glasses in Cape Town and bank accounts in South America. Lucan has also reportedly been sighted at an ex-Nazi colony in Paraguay, working as a waiter in San Francisco, and living in a car in Marton, New Zealand. |
| The now 8th Earl of Lucan has treated such sightings with weary equanimity, once saying: “I get a little tired when former Scotland Yard detectives at the end of their careers get commissions to write books which happen to send them to sunny destinations around the world.” | The now 8th Earl of Lucan has treated such sightings with weary equanimity, once saying: “I get a little tired when former Scotland Yard detectives at the end of their careers get commissions to write books which happen to send them to sunny destinations around the world.” |
| UK news | UK news |
| features | features |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on Google+ | Share on Google+ |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |