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| Portrait of Lord Lucan among items in auction of his widow's estate | Portrait of Lord Lucan among items in auction of his widow's estate |
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| A portrait of a sombre-looking Lord Lucan, which was painted two years before his disappearance and hung for decades in his widow’s drawing room, is to appear at auction. | A portrait of a sombre-looking Lord Lucan, which was painted two years before his disappearance and hung for decades in his widow’s drawing room, is to appear at auction. |
| Bonhams said it was offering for sale the estate of Lady Lucan, who died aged 80 last September, with all the proceeds going to the charity Shelter. | Bonhams said it was offering for sale the estate of Lady Lucan, who died aged 80 last September, with all the proceeds going to the charity Shelter. |
| The sale includes a portrait she hung on to for more than 40 years as well as personal trinkets and books that shine a light on one of the most enduring British murder mysteries, one that continues to fascinate and encourage wild, improbable conspiracy theories. | The sale includes a portrait she hung on to for more than 40 years as well as personal trinkets and books that shine a light on one of the most enduring British murder mysteries, one that continues to fascinate and encourage wild, improbable conspiracy theories. |
| Born Veronica Duncan, she married the aristocratic professional gambler John Bingham, later Lord Lucan, in 1963. The marriage broke down in 1972 and matters soon became acrimonious. Up to his eyeballs in debt, Lord Lucan became obsessed with getting his children back. | Born Veronica Duncan, she married the aristocratic professional gambler John Bingham, later Lord Lucan, in 1963. The marriage broke down in 1972 and matters soon became acrimonious. Up to his eyeballs in debt, Lord Lucan became obsessed with getting his children back. |
| Lady Lucan was the only known witness to the events in 1974 which led to the murder of the children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett. Lady Lucan always maintained that it was her estranged husband who bludgeoned the nanny to death, a case of mistaken identity. | Lady Lucan was the only known witness to the events in 1974 which led to the murder of the children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett. Lady Lucan always maintained that it was her estranged husband who bludgeoned the nanny to death, a case of mistaken identity. |
| Lord Lucan, she said, hit her four times with a length of bandaged metal piping before she managed to escape and raise the alarm at a local pub, bursting through the door of the Plumber’s Arms screaming: “Help me, help me! I have just escaped from a murderer. My children, my children. He’s in my house. He’s murdered the nanny. Help me!” | Lord Lucan, she said, hit her four times with a length of bandaged metal piping before she managed to escape and raise the alarm at a local pub, bursting through the door of the Plumber’s Arms screaming: “Help me, help me! I have just escaped from a murderer. My children, my children. He’s in my house. He’s murdered the nanny. Help me!” |
| He disappeared almost immediately, his borrowed car found abandoned and blood-spattered at the cross-Channel port of Newhaven in East Sussex. On the way he stopped off to tell a friend, Susan Maxwell-Scott, that he had stumbled on an attacker hitting his wife and had tried to save her. Lucan said he was going to “lie doggo” for a while. | He disappeared almost immediately, his borrowed car found abandoned and blood-spattered at the cross-Channel port of Newhaven in East Sussex. On the way he stopped off to tell a friend, Susan Maxwell-Scott, that he had stumbled on an attacker hitting his wife and had tried to save her. Lucan said he was going to “lie doggo” for a while. |
| What followed was one of the most bizarre missing person cases there has ever been. Over the years there were reported sightings of him working as a waiter in San Francisco, at a clinic for alcoholics in Brisbane, living rough in a Land Rover in the rural outback of New Zealand’s North Island with a menagerie of pets including a cat, goat and possum. | What followed was one of the most bizarre missing person cases there has ever been. Over the years there were reported sightings of him working as a waiter in San Francisco, at a clinic for alcoholics in Brisbane, living rough in a Land Rover in the rural outback of New Zealand’s North Island with a menagerie of pets including a cat, goat and possum. |
| In 2003 the Sunday Telegraph published claims by a former Scotland Yard detective that Lucan had been living in a hippy commune in Goa and was known to friends as Jungle Barry. Days later the Guardian reported the truth: Jungle Barry was in fact a now deceased folk singer from St Helens. | In 2003 the Sunday Telegraph published claims by a former Scotland Yard detective that Lucan had been living in a hippy commune in Goa and was known to friends as Jungle Barry. Days later the Guardian reported the truth: Jungle Barry was in fact a now deceased folk singer from St Helens. |
| If Lucan were to still be alive, he would be 83. | If Lucan were to still be alive, he would be 83. |
| Lady Lucan was found dead at her home in Eaton Row, near Buckingham Palace, last September. An inquest ruled that she had taken her own life in the mistaken belief she had Parkinson’s disease. | Lady Lucan was found dead at her home in Eaton Row, near Buckingham Palace, last September. An inquest ruled that she had taken her own life in the mistaken belief she had Parkinson’s disease. |
| For decades Lady Lucan cut a lonely, tortured figure, severing ties with her children and their families in the 1980s. In her will she expressed her wish to leave her estate to the homeless and housing charity Shelter. | For decades Lady Lucan cut a lonely, tortured figure, severing ties with her children and their families in the 1980s. In her will she expressed her wish to leave her estate to the homeless and housing charity Shelter. |
| Shelter will benefit from the sale at Bonhams of 40 objects from Lady Lucan’s house including a 1972 portrait of her husband by artist Dominick Elwes. | |
| Observers have found it curious that Lady Lucan appeared less bitter towards her husband than her children. In one rare interview, to the Sunday Times in 1998, the journalist remarked on how the Elwes portrait dominated the drawing room along with a display of silver cups Lord Lucan won at the Clermont Club backgammon tournaments. | Observers have found it curious that Lady Lucan appeared less bitter towards her husband than her children. In one rare interview, to the Sunday Times in 1998, the journalist remarked on how the Elwes portrait dominated the drawing room along with a display of silver cups Lord Lucan won at the Clermont Club backgammon tournaments. |
| The portrait, with an estimate of £2,000-£3,000, is layered with extra poignancy in that Elwes, one of Lucan’s closest friends from their Eton schooldays, killed himself in 1975. Elwes had been shunned by Lucan’s friends for selling a drawing of them to the Sunday Times. | The portrait, with an estimate of £2,000-£3,000, is layered with extra poignancy in that Elwes, one of Lucan’s closest friends from their Eton schooldays, killed himself in 1975. Elwes had been shunned by Lucan’s friends for selling a drawing of them to the Sunday Times. |
| Charlie Thomas, Bonhams director of private sales, said the Lucan name resonated throughout history with the 3rd earl, for example, giving the order to deploy the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. “These items offer a rare chance to acquire pieces belonging to one of this country’s most famous aristocratic families.” | Charlie Thomas, Bonhams director of private sales, said the Lucan name resonated throughout history with the 3rd earl, for example, giving the order to deploy the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava. “These items offer a rare chance to acquire pieces belonging to one of this country’s most famous aristocratic families.” |
| Other objects in the 3 October sale include a backgammon trophy with an estimate of £200-£300; and a Victorian silver cigar box engraved with B - for Bingham - with an estimate of £700-£900. | Other objects in the 3 October sale include a backgammon trophy with an estimate of £200-£300; and a Victorian silver cigar box engraved with B - for Bingham - with an estimate of £700-£900. |
| There are also boxes of books including, with perhaps morbid irony, Graham Greene’s novel The End of the Affair and his short story collection May We Borrow Your Husband? | There are also boxes of books including, with perhaps morbid irony, Graham Greene’s novel The End of the Affair and his short story collection May We Borrow Your Husband? |
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