What Happened To Lord Lucan After He Vanished 47 Years Ago

ITV Lucan: What happened to Lord Lucan after he vanished 47 years ago

His disappearance has been a phenomenon since 1974 - but there are a few theories as to his whereabouts

CommentsWhat's OnMaral Shafafy20:30, 04 Aug 2021

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Few disappearances have become such a phenomenon as that of Lord Lucan.

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In a case shrouded in mystery, the 7th Earl of Lucan, vanished after his children’s nanny, Sandra Rivett was found murdered in his home in Belgravia in 1974.

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The mystery surrounding his disappearance has been reimagined in a two-part ITV drama starting tonight (Wednesday, August 4). But what do we know about Lord Lucan since he vanished almost 50 years ago?

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There was a lot of speculation as to the whereabouts of Lord Lucan following his disappearance in 1974.

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Rumours claimed that he committed suicide by throwing himself into the English Channel, in the months following the murder of Sandra Rivett.

But since no body has been found in the Channel, those theories proved inconclusive.

One of the people who believed he had committed suicide was his wife Lady Veronica Lucan. She appealed for him to come forward in a letter published by the Daily Mirror in 1977.

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Lady Veronica Lucan and Lord Lucan had a turbulent relationship in the years before his disappearance.

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They were going through a hostile separation at the time and it’s believed that Lord Lucan mistook Rivett for Lady Veronica in the attack.

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Lady Lucan died in 2017 without ever finding out what happened to her husband.

Throughout the years, there have been several unverified sightings of Lord Lucan in countries across the world, including South Africa and India.

After the police could not find him for decades, Lord Lucan was finally legally declared dead in 2016. This allowed Lord Lucan's son, George Bingham to assume his title as the 8th Earl of Lucan and gain access to his inheritance.

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However, the investigation into the disappearance of Lord Lucan took a dramatic turn in January, 2020 after it was claimed he was found in Australia by Rivett’s son.

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Neil Berriman, now aged 52, discovered he was Sandra Rivett’s biological son in 2008. He had been given up for adoption by Rivett just after he was born.

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When Berriman discovered what happened to his mother, he hired private investigators to track down Lord Lucan.

He claimed to have evidence that Lord Lucan, who would now have turned 86 is living as a Buddhist in a commune in Australia.

After a 15-month probe, the Mirror reported in July that the Metropolitan Police had told Berriman that the elderly man was not Lord Lucan.

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Neil Berriman told the Mirror that the response of the police had been “shallow and weak” and that he would not give up looking for Lord Lucan.

If Lord Lucan is found, his son, the 8th Earl of Lucan will have to give up his title and inheritance.

Lucan airs tonight at 9pm on ITV.

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