The Disappearance of Lord Lucan

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Lord Lucan, a name of considerable infamy, not as a member of the aristocracy, but for the murder of his children's nanny in a house in the elitist district of Belgravia, London in 1973 and his subsequent disappearance. It was a story that the press went to town on, a classic us vs them tale of Class superiority and those that would seek to protect the hierarchy at all costs, but how much of it was based on truth and how much just a convenient narrative for the journalists that covered the case? It was a case that was launched into mythical status after the Lord himself vanished without trace, leaving a question that runs until today. Where in the world is Lord Lucan?
Thanks for watching! Contact me and feel free to drop comments, episode suggestions or anything else in the comments.

[@Oakleaf700]

I have some of Lady Lucan's pony rosettes from her pre marriage days...they were sold at auction , after her passing, Veronica said her ponies were the happiest part of her life, Bless her. Each of the rosettes is labelled with the pony and are from the 1950's.

[@bethbartlett5692]

Neat

[@jenniferholden9397]

My friends parents lived as caretakers for a titled lady's country property (now owned by the Duke of Westminster) near Lancaster. Her parents got a telephone call in the wee small hours of the morning warning them that there might be a gentleman arriving soon, they were to leave him completely alone, put food and drinks at the door, the connection between the servants and main house, to mention him to no one and if the police came to deny all knowledge of him. There were multiple calls like this to similar country establishments owned by titled people. No one came, except the police who my friends parents did tip off about the call as they then had become aware of who the visitor was, they were not prepared to shield a murderer. The same country house was used by Prince Charles and Mrs Parker Bowles just prior to his wedding to princess Diana. Their affair never ended. What a sick load of criminals sit on scarlet thrones. The Shand Kidd mentioned in your story is the brother of Mrs Parker Bowles.

[@bethbartlett5692]

Really valuable insight. Exactly what I thought after watching the Documentary. He didn't have the guts to kill himself and his friends helped him relocate. He was a classic Clinical, Covert, Narcissist Personality Disorder. The Police did to - I saw later.

[@ivydickson7596]

Shand Kidd was the stepfather of Diana, married to her mother.

[@ZestySea]

I just checked - Willaim Shand Kydd is not related to Camilla Mountbatten-Winsor, wife of the Prince of Wales. Her maiden name was Shand ... not Shand Kydd

[@jacquelyntobin880]

@@ZestySea I thought the connection was Diana's side

[@heatherweir8839]

I like your longer stories. I usually like to see pictures, but you describe everything so perfectly there's no need.

[@anna-elizabeth]

I'm in the USA, I was aware of Lord Lucan, and I appreciate the in-depth manner in which you cover these subjects. Thank you!

[@bethbartlett5692]

Me too - Tennessee, USA

[@ZestySea]

I'm one third into this, having watched several docos on this topic, and read a little background info. I think this is very well written - relying on facts and quotes by other people close to the Lucan family or the to case, more than the author's own personal opinion or bias - well done! Also noting, the narrator has given more attention to the murder victim, Sandra Rivett, than any of the others.

[@mindakahn9964]

Nice podcast. Thank you. You just don’t disappear, especially someone with money issues. His family always knew where he was. They bankrolled his flight. If you’re innocent do you run?

[@hirepgym6913]

No they didnt he was brown bread by 2 am the next morning after he killed the wrong person and he wasnt alone he could not drive two cars at the same time and the person who drove Veronica's Brown X Reg DAF car is the only one still alive.

[@moviemonster2083]

Oh, please! He committed cowardly suicide, like most of his like. There was no 'escape', except from earthly justice.

[@shirleyporter7608]

Everyone of them sounds rather unbalanced !! Lucan was obsessive about his children and was in no position to care for or support them. He and Veronica should never have married and his treatment of her was unpleasant and cruel worsening her fragile character. Trying to kill her as well as killing the nanny Sandra shows how out of the real world he was. I doubt he killed himself and managed to lose himself on the continent or beyond . Maybe I’m wrong but his body has never turned up anywhere.

[@angr3819]

Not sure if he murdered Sandra. If a man shoved gloved fingers in my mouth in a fight for my life I would have no idea if it was 1, 2 or 3. How would gloved fingers leave scratches inside VL mouth? He was size 12 feet. There were size 9 footprints in the blood. One or two other oddities. It could be that VL and SR fought and VL murdered her. SR's possible boyfriend was there and fled in fear of also being attacked, perhaps murdered and framed. Maybe VL phoned LL for help and it was he who offered to help get rid of the body. LL MAYBE planning to murder VL or have a hitman do so would leave her an innocent victim. VL murdering the Nanny would be a scandal that an aristocratic family and their relatives would never recover from. The children might have been refused entry to some schools, not offered the better jobs, and many would not see them as marriage material. In the end it is all speculation on our part, and so horrible for those left behind. Let's hope the now older offspring and theirs have been able to live normal enough content lives.

[@angr3819]

Her quack put her on LITHIUM? No wonder she was even more depressed than before and couldn't cope and stay awake and energetic enough for the children.

[@thewasatch208]

Woohoo! Just started Sunday cleaning. Gear timing man!! Love this channel, and I always pass it on. Keep up the good work buddy!

[@louisakeen9316]

That's a good analysis of what the early '70s was like, Ben. You've summed it up exactly!

[@jenniferbrewer5370]

I've always wondered though if at least a few of Lucan's well-connected friends might've helped him disappear. If they genuinely believed he was innocent, they might've seen it as their duty to help a friend.

[@ellymay1455]

Sheila Mchgee of course he was help how else could he just disappear.the upper class stick together like shit to a blanket. it doesn’t matter what they have done there all crooks that’s how they got to be where they are. There ancestors stole more killed more and were very good at being crueler than most of us.

[@bethbartlett5692]

Exactly what had to happen.

[@ellymay1455]

Beth Bartlett Really wow. So you think there entitled to do what ever they want. Wow

[@terrymoore565]

Well..its clear that the nanny switched her days off , and Lucan did not know this..he went in the back door, and swung away with that pipe thinking it was his wife, until his wife called down stair's for the nanny, he panicked. Veronica messed up his perfect plans..now he had to kill her again in his mind. When he snuck in he took the light bulb out and in the dark thought it was Veronic he killed..He had Veronic lay down on the bed while he washed up and thought what to do next..she ran outside for help. Veronica was a abused and neglected wife during her entire marriage, this man was a selfish addicted gambler, Veronica had zero skills to deal with her husband and from what's reported zero support from anyone. She was pilled up from a young age and everyone knows the toll antidepressants take on the mind , no wonder she was depressed, the trams she suffered escaping being killed by the only person she really ever knew and depended on..her kids taken and on she went alone, till her death. She left no money to her children who never played her a visit or sent her a rose..good for her..this neglect soul. He had to kill himself or face prison and hang..Veronica knew him better than anyone, she was the first to say..

[@jaygibbs3470]

ok let me first point put that Sandra Rivett was battered to death and i don't of any case where some one has accidentally battered the worong person because when you batter some one you are really close and you would know who it was. also Lord Lucans own children all believe him to be innocent.

[@Bigwave2003]

@@jaygibbs3470 The attacks were in a dark basement with no working light. Very easy to mistake two women who were the same size and age, especially if striking most of the blows from behind in a frenzy in the darkness. The Lucan family had been trying to turn the children against their mother for years.

[@jacquelyntobin880]

Hope she got roses for herself and fkuc the rest.

[@carolking6355]

Most interesting. I had read so much on Lucan but this had a good historical background that I knew nothing of . Many thanks.

[@thewasatch208]

Btw...I'm a born and raised Idahoan and I've heard this story. So glad you've shared it with those who haven't.

[@KS-PNW]

This was really well done , thanks for putting this together! The one thing that I'm surprised you didn't mention is the weapons. My understanding (from books and other podcasts) is that they found a 2½ inch pipe inside the house that was obviously the weapon used. Apparently it had some kind of a grip made out of medical tape and/or casting plaster (I've seen it reported both ways) and then when the Ford was recovered an almost identical one was found in the trunk. Assuming that's true, and I think it probably is given the sources that repeated it, I think it pretty clearly rules out an unrelated attacker. I mean what are the chances that Lucan just happened to have an improvised weapon identical to the burglar's ? At the same time it does make me wonder about the idea that he had second thoughts at the last minute and tried to intervene. I mean two weapons is suggestive of two assailants.. Interesting piece of evidence at least IMHO. Thanks again for the great episode, just came across your show yesterday and I've been binging it ever since!

[@ghostfood777]

Just started and very excited your doing this one. I only heard of this great mystery maybe once before so I think for most of your listeners outside the UK it will be way fresher if not a new one. I live in the US and so happy you got a new Sunday feature! Thanks you

[@keithireland6627]

Brilliantly done many thanks.

[@craigoliver8712]

"Infamy,Infamy they've all got it Infamy" Kenneth Williams-Carry on Cleo- a classic

[@haleygonzalez2724]

I really love your voice

[@susanrobinson4808]

this is excellent and very in depth i have learned a lot more information than we have been given.I have thoroughly enjoyed it.

[@emilywalker3352]

I live in the United States and have heard bits and pieces about this case from a true crime documentary I saw.

[@Putaspellonyou]

Fascinating. Need to listen again.

[@elizabethedwards3607]

I really enjoyed listening to this.

[@jackspring7709]

I read a book written by a psychic in which he predicted that Lucan would soon reappear and tell all....that was 35 years ago.

[@sharonroco2452]

I miss the background 'woo woo wooooo' music you used to have. It was very atmospheric.

[@heatherweir8839]

It's still there

[@Fellowtraveller2]

Lucan had left his wallet, passport and car.keys in his London flat, so unless Mrs Maxwell Scott gave him money, how did he pay for a ferry? Such details were not mentioned.

[@jacquelyntobin880]

Long-time 'friends', I'm certain she did.

[@ghostfood777]

Another ace storytelling of a fantastic true life mystery. You mention if Lucan successfully disappeared to live out his life he would have accomplished what very few have done. I think it would be so interesting to hear about some famous cases where people did disappear successfully for years or decades only to be have the long running mystery solved wether it be they are eventually caught or come forward by their own admission. I can’t think of any good ones...does anyone know any stories of that kind?

[@ghostfood777]

Ronnie Biggs is a fantastic one! I’ll have to revisit that tale. First remember hearing that name and voice on the SexPistols album The Great Rock and Roll Swindle. He sung on a couple songs which is sorta bizarre but yeah great stuff!

[@JAMAICADOCK]

If Lucan hadn't run, he could have got away with it, Didn't realize how unbalanced his wife actually was. My guess is, he was going to grab the kids and leave the country, probably paid a accomplice to help him, but it all went wrong. So he just went through with the second half of the plan without the kids. Reason I say this, is because his vanishing act was too good to be just a fly-by-night rush job, much planning must've gone into it. Lucan probably ran off to Saudi Arabia or some other gulf state, no doubt aboard a private jet. A lot of rich Arabs mixing with aristocrats in the Claremont Club in the 70s. Saudi antipathy to divorce and custody battles would have chimed with Lucan's predicament. If Lucan had any rich Arab friends, that's the trail to go down. Plus all Lucky needed to do was grow a beard, put on a ghutrah headdress, wear a pair of sun glasses and nobody would be the wiser..No doubt been going to Ascot every year since.

[@JAMAICADOCK]

Lucan leaving the car in Newhaven seems a symbolic gesture. Haven in the Oxford dictionary meaning - shelter, retreat, sanctuary, refuge, asylum. a port in a storm etc. No doubt a nod to his buddies.

[@invisibleray6987]

I'm from Eastbourne, love Newhaven

[@peterhanley7125]

"Belgrarvia"

[@rosu5726]

George seems a common snob for not trying more to befriend his poor mother. Terrible all V suffered from the moment she accepted the typical lord. I wish prince charles will tell us as it's likely he knows what became of lucan

[@angr3819]

I'd LL sister Camilla the one he married?

[@invisibleray6987]

I worked in Newhaven, and ran train service seaford Newhaven Town Newhaven Marine Newhaven Harbor

[@surreygirl2075]

Years ago I was with my two brothers we went to Newhaven Fort and we saw a man in a black coat being chased by police but I don't know if it was lord lucan it may have been an accident and he went of the cliff or ran away in the tunnels

[@scottpeter5704]

What was the book? Please let us know as I'd like to read it

[@tomsloane4821]

It was 1974, not 1973

[@rosu5726]

Lucan had a.friend take him somewhere after leaving the ford corsair as a decoy. Who helped him? Where could he have gone?

[@fredflintstoner596]

EVER SEEN THE FILM HOWTO MURDER YOUR WIFE ? IT'S VERY GOOD I'VE SEEN IT SIX TIMES !

[@RichMitch]

He's in a monastery in Austria, apparently

[@RootMenu]

A better take on the case compared to They Got Away with Murder.

[@lovewalruss]

Bel-grave-EE-aa. Not Belgraah-via

[@ah7910]

I am just a few minutes in and that mistake really put me off too. A simple google search would have helped the narrator with that. Seemed a lazy mistake and undermines the quality of his effort/production a little for me. The pronunciation in general is really sloppy and not as well-spoken as I’d prefer from a podcast but everyone’s comments (mainly American) seem very positive so I’ll try and keep an open mind. I dislike podcasts with spooky music, etc - I worry I’ve found myself on that end of the TrueCrime spectrum.

[@fhills76]

It was 1974... not 1973

[@tonyyoung2509]

As always Ben a terrific podcast. I want to put something out there about this though. I find it impossible to believe that anybody could beat a woman's brains out, then stuff her into a postal bag then beat his wife then within 5 mins be sitting more or less calmly talking to the wife. Especially since Lucan was not covered in blood according to the wife. I just can't believe the red tide would ebb away fast enough to not simply continue beating the wife until she was also dead if it was him. It takes a while for a rage to go after all and 5 mins from raging bull to chatting on the bed just seems a bit hard to swallow. Not saying Lucan wasn't behind this, I think a hit man did the bloody work and Lucan arrived later either as what he may have thought could be explained to police as coincidence to deflect blame or he may well have had second thoughts once he saw his wife was still alive. The only alternative that I can see if that Sandra really was the intended victim which is kind of hard to believe considering all that took place later. I do see how Lucan if he was innocent may having run to begin with because of panic decided he had to keep running and fatal events caught up with him. Personally I think regardless his mates did him in. They would have known he would have been incapable of keeping a low profile though there is a weird old bloke who runs a laundromat in country Victoria here in Australia I know of that I've long had doubts about :-) and would have made trouble for them sooner or later. These chaps do tend to feel that the law is an optional thing you can obey if it suits and completely disregard if it doesn't.

[@ZestySea]

Re this comment "I find it impossible to believe that anybody could beat a woman's brains out, then stuff her into a postal bag then beat his wife then within 5 mins be sitting more or less calmly talking to the wife." - I don't. For a number of reasons. The first reason is that Lucan was a very large man, (6ft 4") and secondly his body would have been flooded with adrenalin, cortisol and other fight or flight hormones. Lucan would be used to adrenalin from his gambling habits - if fact he most likely was addicted to it, and he had also been a soldier. The flood of the hormones would have assisted him while he carried out the violent attack. As to getting a woman's body in a bag - as any sailor knows, this is perfectly possible for handle heavy sails and bag them. There is technique for this. I don't know if Lucan had been taught sailing skills but it's quite likely he had. I'm not saying the scenario that a second person can't be ruled out, but it's not impossible for Lucan to physically attack the two women, bagging one - with floods of adrenalin coursing through his body. The adrenalin may have affected his ability to recognise Sandra Rivett's body. But after a rush of physical activity, the body suffers from a rapid drop in blood sugar - hence the energy of the first attack didn't last. What is more interesting is working on plausible scenarios taking into account the blood splatter. Modern forensics might be helpful here.

[@haleygonzalez2724]

God you’re cute haha

[@hirepgym6913]

Lucky hahaha it was a joke Goldsmith made while they scammed Lucan for all his money Lucan had a SS Officers uniform in his wardrobe he named Goldsmith Göring and Goebbels was his mate who took Veronica's DAF and Scorzeni thought they were all a joke

[@hirepgym6913]

Lucan never drove the Corsair to Newhaven and he never had a boat that was a lie the car was dumped there where the police could not miss it and it was taken there in the back of a furniture van.

[@hirepgym6913]

It was never a mystery Lucan showed up uninvited asking for help and he had a plan so four of them took him to the airfield he said Graham Hill was picking him up to fly him to the south of France and Otto Scorzeni would get him to south america but Hill never turned up Lucan became histerical so they bumped him off its as simple as that but three of them were soon found dead and you know what happened to Hill.

[@hirepgym6913]

The reason his never been found is there is nothing left of him to be found.

[@hirepgym6913]

You never mentioned the car was dumped near a Police Station (on purpose) so they could not miss it ! Lucan was never in Newhaven and the speed boat he was meant to have Veronica told me herself the Greek guy who said he lent Lucan 5 grand to buy it had never even met Lucan .

[@hirepgym6913]

As for all these letters "IF" Lucan did write them then he had planned killing Veronica at least two weeks before he had been going around the club trying to get people to help him they said yes to just get rid of him he was drunk he asked Graham Hill who said yes but had no intension of showing up he sent a letter to Scorzeni who he had met in Ireland but Scorzeni threw it in the bin no one was going to help a bankrupt fool .

[@johnniethepom2905]

Belgravia = Bell - grave - e -r . Try and pronounce it with a plum in your mouth and it comes naturally . 1974 . 1 minute in and two mistakes already . I won't have the time to critic the whole podcast at this rate .

[@bethbartlett5692]

Caught that.

[@tarajh]

*critique

[@ZestySea]

The narrator has a cockney London accent. Why should he? I'm enjoying listening to its nuances.

[@ZestySea]

The narrator has a cockney London accent. I'm enjoying listening to its nuances. Why should he pronounce this placename according to your point of view?

[@johnniethepom2905]

@@ZestySea live on the other side of the world in Sydney Australia but know how to pronounce Belgravia ! There is no excuse with so much technology at our fingertips.

[@katherineeldon6937]

If Lucan was framed for murder and abducted and held captive, he may still be alive.

[@bethbartlett5692]

Creative thought - he was guilty.

[@Bigwave2003]

And if Lucan discovered the secret to time travel he could be anywhere.

[@gretahassock8914]

I think he got away influential friends but he had to be careful there had to be changes