The 7th Earl of Lucan (born 18 December 1934 – disappeared 7th November 1974), commonly known as Lord Lucan, was a British peer suspected of murder who disappeared in 1974. He was an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, the eldest son of George Bingham, 6th Earl of Lucan, by his wife 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 from April 1949 until January 1964, during his father’s lifetime.
He was known for his expensive tastes; he raced power boats and drove an Aston Martin. In 1963 he married Veronica Duncan, by whom he had three children, Frances, Camilla and George. 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 Flat in nearby Elizabeth Street.
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.
