Lord Lucan
The aristocratic Lucan Family has been known for the actions of their ancestors. The third Earl had been responsible for the massacre of six hundred men at the Battle of Balaclava, however, it would be the seventh Earl of Lucan to make all previous acts insignificant.
Richard John Bingham was born on December 18th 1934 to Sixth Earl of Lucan and his wife Kait. John, as he was better known, spent most of his childhood in the United States being cared for by nannies due to WWII. Upon returning, he attended Eton and became a charming six foot four man excelling in speedboat racing. During this time his interest in gambling deepened. After a short spell in the army, Lucan careered in merchant banking. Due to his astounding gambling luck, he was soon nicknamed Lucky Lucan. In 1960, he won a massive £26,000 in forty-eight hours and decided to take up gambling professionally. His favourite haunt being Berkley Square’s Clermont Club.
In March 1963 Lucan married Veronica Duncan and they moved to Lower Belgrave Street in Mayfair. He soon inherited the Lucan title, becoming the seventh Earl of Lucan, after the death of his father two months later. Between 1964 and 1970, Lady Lucan gave birth to three children Frances, George and Camilla. She openly suffered from severe postnatal depression and was treated with a variety of antidepressants. However, she continued to care for her children over the subsequent years. Lucan was initially understanding but soon became tired of his wife’s behaviour and their marriage became strained. The pressure was also added by Lucan’s mounting gambling debt and soon, in 1973, the marriage ends with Lucan moving out. He set up residence in a nearby garden flat in Elizabeth Street.
After hiring private investigators to spy on his wife he is unsuccessful in his attempt to gain custody of his children. Lady Lucan is granted full custody in 1973. By this point, Lucan is drowning in debt and his hatred of his wife is only heightened by the fact that she continues to live in the Mayfair family home. Which if sold would immediately have paid off all his debt. More than one person reported that Lucan wanted to kill his wife in order to get his children and house back.
The Murder of Sandra Rivett
On November 7th 1974 at 9:45 pm a distressed Lady Lucan bursts into The Plumber’s Arms in Lower Belgrave Street shouting ‘Help me, help me, help me. I’ve just escaped from being murdered. He’s in the house. He’s murdered the nanny!’ The police entered the property and soon found a bloodstained sack containing the brutally battered corpse of the children’s nanny Sandra Rivett. Although also injured herself, Lady Lucan was able to give a statement claiming the attacker to be her husband, Lord Lucan, who had since disappeared. The police went on to search his nearby flat, there was no sign of Lucan, but his wallet, passport, driving license and car keys were all found.
In the meantime, Lucan has called his mother telling her Lady Lucan had been injured and that she needed to go and collect the children. Lucan, in a borrowed Ford Corsair, drove forty-six miles to the Uckfield, Sussex home of friend Susan Maxwell-Scott. He arrived at 11:30 pm looking very dishevelled with clothing that looked as though it had been stained and sponged off. His story was that he was passing the house and saw his wife struggling with an unknown man. He entered the home to help her and whilst going down to the basement he slips in a pool of blood. The man ran off and his wife in hysterics accused him of hiring someone to kill her. When trying to help her she ran off so he decided to leave.
Lucan also further reinforces his version of events in a letter to his brother-in-law, Bill Shand Kydd, who he hadn’t been able to reach on the phone. He emphasises his wife’s mental condition suggesting that she was having paranoid delusions. He also calls his mother again who tells him the police are at her house and wanted to speak to him. He promised he would be in touch the next day. Lucan then leaves the Maxwell-Scott house at 1:15 am in the Ford Corsair and was never seen again. The car was found abandoned, in Newhaven, a few days later and the police found a lead pipe similar to the murder weapon inside. The owner of the borrowed car then received a note from Lucan in the post. He protested his innocence and stating that his main concerns were for the welfare of his children.
The Inquest
The inquest into the death of Sandra Rivett started on the 5th June 1975, It included evidence from everyone who witnessed the events of the evening, even Lady Lucan who did not have to testify due to being the wife of the accused. Also despite being in their infancy both blood and fibre samples were used as evidence. The jury after only deliberating for half an hour gave a verdict that stated Lord Lucan was guilty of murdering Sandra Rivett.
The Aftermath
There are many theories as to what happened to Lord Lucan after the events of November 7th 1974. Many believe that he killed himself but it is also rumoured that he managed to escape the country with the help of his wealthy friends. Numerous sightings of Lucan have been reported, some as far away as South Africa and Australia. More recently some have claimed that the body of Lucan is somewhere on the estate of Maxwell-Scott and that his car was driven to Newhaven as a decoy. Although there is no proof of these allegations. Despite widespread coverage, Lucan has never been found. He was presumed dead in chambers on December 11th 1992 and then declared legally dead in October 1999.
In the years that followed the Lucan Family fell into disarray. Lady Lucan’s mental health continued to deteriorate with son George choosing to be adopted by his aunt and uncle after her admission to a psychiatric facility. Camilla, the youngest daughter, refuses to believe her father is and didn’t invite her mother to her wedding. In an interview in 2012, George stated that he believes his father took his own life after the murder of Sandra Rivett because of the ‘horrendous storm that was coming’.
