Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 8 November 1974, declared dead 27 October 1999), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer and gambler who vanished in 1974 after being suspected of killing his children's nanny and attempting to murder his wife. An evacuee during World War II, Lucan attended Eton College and served with the Coldstream Guards in West Germany from 1953 to 1955. Having developed a taste for gambling, he played backgammon and bridge, and was an early member of the exclusive group of wealthy British gamblers at the Clermont Club. Lucan's losses often exceeded his winnings, yet he left his job at a London-based merchant bank and became a professional gambler. He was known as Lord Bingham from April 1949 until January 1964.
Lucan was known for his expensive tastes, racing power boats and driving an Aston Martin. In 1963, he married Veronica Duncan, having three children with her. The couple moved to 46 Lower Belgrave Street, Belgravia in 1967, paying £17,500 for the house (). After the marriage collapsed in late 1972, he moved out to a nearby property in January 1973, when they formally separated. A bitter custody battle ensued, which Lucan eventually lost. Apparently obsessed with regaining custody of the children, Lucan began to spy on his wife and record their telephone conversations. This fixation, combined with mounting legal expenses and gambling losses, had a dramatic effect on Lucan's life and personal finances.
On the night of 7 November 1974, Sandra Rivett, the nanny of Lucan's children, was murdered in the Lucan family home. A wounded Lady Lucan burst into the Plumbers Arms; she claimed to have been attacked by her husband and that he had admitted to killing Rivett. Lord Lucan telephoned his mother, asking her to collect his children, before driving to visit a friend in Uckfield, East Sussex; he also penned letters protesting his innocence and claiming that he had fought with an intruder who attacked his wife and that his wife accused him of hiring a hitman to kill her. In the early hours of 8 November, Lucan drove off; his car was found abandoned in Newhaven, but he was never found. At the inquest into Rivett's death, held in June 1975, the jury returned a verdict naming Lucan as her killer. Lucan was declared legally dead in 1999, and a death certificate issued in 2016 allowed his titles to be inherited by his son George. Lucan's involvement in Rivett's murder and his fate remain a subject of debate, various theories, and continuing research.
Early life and education
Richard John Bingham was born on 18 December 1934 at 19 Bentinck Street, Marylebone, London, the second child and elder son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan, an Anglo-Irish peer, and his wife, Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne Dawson. John was the great-great-grandson of George Bingham, 3rd Earl of Lucan, who led the Charge of the Light Brigade. A blood clot found in his mother's lung forced her to remain in a nursing home, so John, as he became known,<!-- this to help the reader – not cited --> was initially cared for by the family's nurserymaid, Lucy Sellers. Aged three years, John attended a pre-prep school in Tite Street with his elder sister Jane. In 1939, with the Second World War approaching, the two were taken to the relative safety of Wales.
While in the US, John and his siblings lived in grandeur and wanted for nothing, but on their return to England in February 1945 they were faced with the stark realities of wartime Britain. Rationing was still in force, their former home at Cheyne Walk had been bombed, and the family's house at 22 Eaton Square had had its windows blown out. Despite the family's noble ancestry, the 6th Earl and his wife were agnostics and socialists who preferred a more austere existence than that offered by Tucker, an extremely wealthy Christian. For a time, John suffered nightmares and was taken to a psychotherapist. As an adult he remained an agnostic, but ensured that his children attended Sunday school, preferring to give them a traditional childhood.
At Eton College, John developed a taste for gambling. He supplemented his pocket money with income from bookmaking, placing his earnings into a "secret" bank account, and regularly left the school's grounds to attend horse races. According to his mother, John's academic record was "far from creditable", but he became captain of Roe's House before leaving in 1953 to undertake his National Service. He became a second lieutenant in his father's regiment, the Coldstream Guards, and was stationed mainly in Krefeld, West Germany. While there, he also became a keen poker player.
Career
On leaving the British Army in 1954, Lucan joined William Brandt's Sons and Co., a London-based merchant bank, on an annual salary of £500. Lucan became a regular gambler and an early member of John Aspinall's Clermont gaming club, located in Berkeley Square.
Lucan often won at games of skill like backgammon and bridge, but he also accumulated huge losses. On one occasion Lucan lost £8,000, or about two-thirds of the money he received annually from various family trusts. On another disastrous night at a casino he lost £10,000. His uncle by marriage, stockbroker John Bevan, helped him to pay that particular debt, and Lucan repaid his uncle two years later. A colleague had been promoted before him, leading Lucan to leave his job in protest, saying, "Why should I work in a bank, when I can earn a year's money in one single night at the tables?" Lucan travelled to the US, where he played golf, raced power boats, and drove his Aston Martin around the West Coast. He also visited his elder sister Jane and his former guardian, Marcia Tucker. On his return to England he moved out of his parents' home in St John's Wood and into a flat in Park Crescent.
Personal life
Marriage and lifestyle
Lucan met his future wife, Veronica Duncan, early in 1963. She was born in 1937 to Major Charles Moorhouse Duncan and his wife, Thelma. Veronica's father had died in a car accident when she was young, after which the family moved to South Africa. Her mother remarried, and her family returned to England, where her new stepfather became manager of a hotel in Guildford. With her sister, Christina, she was educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester.
After displaying a talent for art, Veronica went on to study at an art college in Bournemouth. The two sisters later shared a flat in London, where Veronica worked as a model and later as a secretary. Christina's marriage to the wealthy William Shand Kydd (half-brother to Peter Shand Kydd, stepfather of Diana Spencer, later Princess of Wales) introduced her to London high society, and it was at a golf-club function in the country that Veronica and Lucan first met. and the two were married at Holy Trinity Church, Brompton, on 20 November. After a ceremony attended by Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone (one of whose ladies-in-waiting had been a relative of Lady Lucan), but few other prominent members of high society, the couple honeymooned in Europe, travelling first class on the Orient Express. Lucan's already embattled finances were given a welcome boost by his father, who provided him with a marriage settlement designed to finance a larger family home and any future additions to the Lucan family. Lucan repaid some of his creditors and purchased 46 Lower Belgrave Street in Belgravia, redecorating it to suit Veronica's tastes.
Two months after the wedding, on 21 January 1964, Lucan's father died of a stroke. In addition to a reputed £250,000 inheritance, Lucan acquired his father's titles: Earl of Lucan; Baron Lucan of Castlebar; Baron Bingham of Melcombe Bingham and Baronet Bingham of Castlebar. His wife became the Countess of Lucan.
The couple had three children:
- Lady Frances Bingham, born on 24 October 1964
- George Bingham, 8th Earl of Lucan, born on 21 September 1967
- Lady Camilla Bingham, born on 30 June 1970.
Following the 1964 birth of their first daughter, Frances, from early in 1965, they employed a nanny, Lillian Jenkins, to look after her. Lucan tried to teach Veronica about gambling and traditional pursuits like hunting, shooting, and fishing. He bought her golf lessons; she later gave up the sport.
Lucan's daily routine consisted of breakfast at 9:00 am, coffee, dealing with the morning's letters, reading the newspapers, and playing the piano. He sometimes jogged in the park and took his Dobermann for walks. Lunch at the Clermont Club was followed by afternoon games of backgammon. Returning home to change into black tie, the earl typically spent the remainder of the day at the Clermont, gambling into the early hours, watched sometimes by Veronica. In 1965, while still working at Brandt's, he had written of his desire to have "£2m in the bank", claiming that "motor-cars, yachts, expensive holidays, and security for the future would give myself and a lot of other people a lot of pleasure".
Lucan was described by his friends as a shy and taciturn man, but with his tall stature, "luxuriant guardsman's moustache," and masculine pursuits, his exploits made him popular. In September 1966 he unsuccessfully screen tested for a part in Woman Times Seven, prompting him to decline a later offer from film producer Albert R. Broccoli to screen test him for the role of James Bond.
As a professional gambler, Lucan had interests in thoroughbred horses; in 1968, he paid more in race entry fees than he received in winnings.
Following the births of George and Camilla, Veronica suffered post-natal depression. Lucan became increasingly involved in her mental well-being, and in 1971 took her for treatment at a psychiatric clinic in Hampstead, where she refused to be admitted. Instead, she agreed to home visits from a psychiatrist and a course of antidepressants. In July 1972, the family holidayed in Monte Carlo, but Veronica quickly returned to England, leaving Lucan with their two elder children. The combined pressures of maintaining their finances, the costs of Lucan's gambling addiction, and Veronica's weakened mental condition took their toll on the marriage; two weeks after a strained family Christmas in 1972, Lucan moved into a small property in Eaton Row. Lady Lucan later described this as the point of their formal separation in January 1973.
Separation
Some months later Lucan moved again, to a larger rented flat in nearby Elizabeth Street. Despite an early attempt by his wife at reconciliation, by that point all Lucan wanted from the marriage was custody of his children. In an effort to demonstrate that Veronica was unfit to look after them, Lucan began to spy on his family (his car was regularly seen parked in Lower Belgrave Street), later employing private detectives to perform the same task. He also canvassed doctors, who explained that his wife had not "gone mad", but was suffering from depression and anxiety.
Lucan told his friends that nobody would work for Veronica – she had sacked Jenkins, the children's long-term nanny, in December 1972. Of the series of nannies employed in the house, one, 26-year-old Stefanja Sawicka, was told by Veronica that Lucan had hit her with a cane and had, on one occasion, pushed her down the stairs. The countess apparently feared for her safety and told Sawicka not to be surprised "if he kills me one day."
Sawicka's time at the Lucan household ended late in March 1973. While with two of the children near Grosvenor Place, she was confronted by Lucan and two private detectives. They told her that the children had been made wards of court and that she must release them into his custody, which she did. Frances was collected from school later in the day. Veronica applied to the court to have the children returned, but concerned about the case's complexity, the judge set a date for the hearing three months ahead, for <!-- 11 -->June 1973.
To defend herself against Lucan's claims about her mental state, Veronica booked herself a four-day stay at the Priory Clinic in Roehampton. While it was acknowledged that she still required some psychiatric support, the doctors reported that there was no indication that she was mentally ill. Lucan's case depended on Veronica's being unable to care for the children, but at the hearing he was instead forced to defend his own behaviour toward her. After several weeks of witnesses and protracted arguments in camera, on the advice of his lawyers he conceded the case. Unimpressed by Lucan's character, Mr Justice Rees awarded custody to Veronica. The earl was allowed access every other weekend. Lucan again began to watch his wife's movements. He recorded some of their telephone conversations with a small Sony tape recorder and played excerpts to any friends prepared to listen; he also told themand his bank managerthat Veronica had been "spending money like water". Lucan continued to pay her £40 a week and may have cancelled their regular food order with Harrods. He delayed payment to the milkman andknowing that Veronica was required by the court to employ a live-in nannythe childcare agency. With no income of her own, Veronica took a part-time job in a local hospital.
A temporary nanny, Elizabeth Murphy, was befriended by Lucan, who bought her drinks and asked her for information on his wife. He instructed his detective agency to investigate Murphy, looking for evidence that she was failing in her duty of care to his children. This they found; he dispensed with the detective agency's services when they presented him with bills amounting to several hundred pounds. Murphy was later hospitalised with cancer. Another temporary nanny, Christabel Martin, reported strange telephone calls to the house, some with heavy breathing and some from a man asking for non-existent people. Following a series of temporary nannies, Sandra Rivett started work in late 1974.
Gambling
Losing the court case proved devastating for Lucan. It had cost him an estimated £20,000; by late 1974, his financial position was dire. As he drank more heavily and started chain-smoking, his friends began to worry. In drunken conversations with some of them, including Aspinall and his mother Lady Osborne, Lucan discussed murdering his wife. Greville Howard later gave a statement to the police describing how Lucan had talked of how killing his wife might save him from bankruptcy, how her body might be disposed of in the Solent and how he "would never be caught".