Richard John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan
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The Right Honourable The Earl of Lucan |
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With his wife Veronica Duncan, October 1963
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| Born | Richard John Bingham 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 |
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| 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 |
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| Parent(s) |
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| 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.
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