*** Welcome to piglix ***

Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan

The Right Honourable
The Earl of Lucan
Lord and Lady Lucan.jpg
With his wife Veronica Duncan, October 1963
Born Richard John Bingham
(1934-12-18)18 December 1934
Marylebone, London, England
Disappeared 7 November 1974 (aged 39)
England
Status Presumed dead
Body discovered Not found
Residence Belgravia, London
Other names Lucky Lucan
Occupation
  • Banker
  • Professional gambler
Title 7th Earl of Lucan
Predecessor George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan
Successor George Bingham, 8th Earl of Lucan
Spouse(s) Veronica Mary Duncan (1937–2017)
Children
  • Frances (b. 1964)
  • George (b. 1967)
  • Camilla (b. 1970)
Parent(s)
  • George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan
  • Kaitlin Elizabeth Anne (née Dawson)
Military career
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Service/branch British Army
Years of service 1953–55
Rank Second lieutenant
Unit Coldstream Guards

Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (18 December 1934 – disappeared 7 November 1974), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer suspected of murder who disappeared in 1974. He was born into an Anglo-Irish aristocratic family in Marylebone, the eldest son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan, by his marriage to Kaitlin Dawson. An evacuee during the Second World War, Lucan returned to attend Eton College, and then from 1953 to 1955 served with the Coldstream Guards in West Germany. He developed a taste for gambling and, skilled at backgammon and bridge, became an early member of the Clermont Club. Although his losses often exceeded his winnings, he left his job at a London-based merchant bank and became a professional gambler. He was known as Lord Bingham during his father's earldom from April 1949 until January 1964.

Once considered for the role of James Bond in the cinematic adaptations of Ian Fleming's novels, Lucan was noted for his expensive tastes; he raced power boats and drove an Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica Duncan, with whom he had three children. When the marriage collapsed late in 1972, he moved out of the family home at 46 Lower Belgrave Street, in London's Belgravia, to a property nearby. A bitter custody battle ensued, which Lucan lost. He began to spy on his wife and record their telephone conversations, apparently obsessed with regaining custody of the children. This fixation, combined with his gambling losses, had a dramatic effect on his life and personal finances.


...
Wikipedia

...