Nearly 50 years after he vanished without a trace, the mystery of Lord Lucan continues to captivate the public imagination. The BBC is running three documentaries examining whether Lord Lucan, who would now be 89, managed to escape the UK.
Richard John Bingham, also known as Lord Lucan, was born in London in 1934 to a prominent British aristocratic family. His father was wealthy and served in Clement Attlee's government. Educated at the prestigious Eton College, Richard was introduced to gambling by his schoolmates during his adolescence, a pursuit that would define much of his life.
After briefly working at a bank in London, Lord Lucan left his job following a significant gambling win. His departure was marked by a bold statement to his boss: "Why should I work when I can win a year's salary in a single night at the tables?" He earned the nickname "Lucky Lucan" due to his charm, style, striking good looks, and gambling successes. He immersed himself in a lavish lifestyle, racing powerboats through the English Channel, buying racehorses, and even racing bobsleighs.
However, his personal life was fraught with turmoil. His marriage to Lady Lucan soon broke down, leading to a bitter custody battle over their children in 1973. Lord Lucan tried and failed to have his wife sent to a psychiatric hospital and ultimately lost the custody case. Friends of Lord Lucan later told police that he believed killing his wife would save him from bankruptcy.
On November 7, 1974, the lives of the Lucan family were irrevocably changed. That night, Sandra Rivett, the nanny to Lord and Lady Lucan's children, was brutally beaten to death in the basement of the family residence. The violence of the attack was such that the police found Sandra Rivett's body inside a mail bag of American origin, a detail classified as one of the many mysteries surrounding the case.
According to Lady Lucan, who was also assaulted that night, Lord Lucan broke into the house using a key he still possessed, convinced he would find his wife going down to the kitchen. She told authorities that her husband had attempted to kill her, possibly confusing her with the nanny in the darkness. Shortly after the attack, Lady Lucan escaped to seek help at a nearby pub.
Lord Lucan fled the crime scene that same night. He called his mother, alleging that he had seen a stranger attacking his wife. Fearing that his wife would accuse him of being responsible for the murder, he decided to lie low and fled the UK. After the call, he headed to the house of his friend Ian Maxwell-Scott in Sussex. The car he was using, a Ford Corsair, was later found splattered with Sandra Rivett's blood type, and a metal pipe similar to the murder weapon was discovered inside. The next day, police found his abandoned car near the port of Newhaven.
In a landmark inquest in 1975, the jury found Lord Lucan guilty of murder based on Lady Lucan's testimony and other evidence, despite his absence during the proceedings. Scotland Yard followed dozens of leads for years, with supposed sightings in places as distant as Australia, India, and South Africa. Despite their efforts, no investigation achieved conclusive results.
Various theories about his fate circulated widely. Some speculated that Lord Lucan was being sheltered by his friends, whom the police nicknamed "The Eaton Square Mafia." Several of his friends had resources such as foreign properties and private jets, which would have allowed him to live in hiding without being detected. Other theories suggested his possible suicide in the English Channel. Lady Lucan believed he took his own life by taking a ferry from Newhaven and throwing himself into the Channel.
The impact of the case extended deeply into his family life. Lady Lucan recalled the physical abuses that, according to her, had affected her mental health. After years of statements in which she blamed her husband for her emotional instability, the relationship with her children deteriorated. When she passed away in 2017, it was discovered that she had left her entire inheritance to charities, excluding her children from any benefit. This exclusion underscored the family trauma that the crime had sown forever.
In 2016, British justice officially declared Lord Lucan dead. His son, George Bingham, said he believed his father had been dead since 1974. The declaration closed the judicial case without clarifying the final fate of the aristocrat.
The case of Lord Lucan has become hardwired into British culture, capturing the public's imagination and inspiring books, documentaries, and fictions revolving around his enigmatic flight. People commonly made jokes about his whereabouts, associating him with the famous racehorse Shergar, which was stolen in 1983 and also disappeared without a trace.
Lord Lucan remains a perpetual shadow, an aristocratic ghost wandering among rumors and theories impossible to bury. His disappearance remains the loose thread in a narrative that seems to defy time. It is as if Lord Lucan himself has become the eternal protagonist of a mystery without resolution. Although justice sealed his death, the myth of Lucan refuses to rest.
Sources: Infobae, Mirror, BBC News
This article was written in collaboration with generative AI company Alchemiq