{"id":18555,"date":"2022-09-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-28T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/?post_type=purple_issue&p=18555"},"modified":"2022-10-03T15:44:10","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T13:44:10","slug":"this-month-in-1974","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/2022\/09\/29\/this-month-in-1974\/","title":{"rendered":"This month in: 1974"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u2022 <\/span>THIS MONTH IN… 1974<\/strong><\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n
ANNIVERSARIES THAT HAVE MADE HISTORY<\/span><\/h5>\n\n

Lord Lucan disappears, suspected of murder<\/h2>\n\n

Words: Rhiannon Davies<\/p>\n\n

\"\"
The future Lord and Lady Lucan announced their engagement in 1963, just months after meeting \u2013 but the happiness did not last <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

For the staff and patrons of The Plumbers Arms, a pub in London\u2019s upmarket Belgravia district, the evening of 7 November 1974 began like any other. But at around 10pm, the night\u2019s familiar rhythm was shattered when a woman stumbled in drenched in blood and screaming: \u201cHelp me, help me, help me! I have just escaped from being murdered! He\u2019s in the house! He\u2019s murdered the nanny!\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The woman was Lady Lucan, a familiar face in the nation\u2019s press, and, what\u2019s more, she knew the murderer\u2019s identity: her own husband, the Earl of Lucan. <\/p>\n\n

At the beginning, their relationship seemed to have been ripped from the pages of a romance novel. English aristocrat, Richard John Bingham, met Veronica Duncan at a golfing event in early 1963, and they were wed before the year was out and inherited the titles of Lord and Lady Lucan. He was a dashing and suave gentleman who had been considered for the role of James Bond; she was a glamorous beauty and a former model. <\/p>\n\n

\"\"
A police officer outside Lady Lucan\u2019s home on Lower Belgrave Street \u2013 the scene of Sandra Rivett\u2019s killing <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n

But through the fa\u00e7ade of their high-end lifestyle, cracks soon appeared. Lord Lucan discovered a passion for gambling when he won big at a friendly game at the Clermont Club, and quit his job as a banker to dedicate himself to gambling full time. Most nights, he would drag his wife to the club and make her watch from the \u2018widow\u2019s bench\u2019 as he played game after game of cards (be it baccarat or bridge) and backgammon. <\/p>\n\n

He picked up the nickname \u2018Lucky Lucan\u2019, but his success as a professional gambler soon ran out and the debts began to mount. Lady Lucan had her own problems, too, as she struggled with post-natal depression after the births of their three children. By early 1973, Lord Lucan had packed his bags and moved out of the family home. Yet he was terrified of losing access to his children; a fear that came true in 1974 after an embittered custody battle ended in Lady Lucan\u2019s favour.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Desperate to win them back, and with his gambling and drinking only worsening, Lord Lucan decided to take matters into his own hands, it appears. Friends claimed that he talked of murdering his wife. On the evening of 7 November, Lady Lucan, their children and the nanny Sandra Rivett were at 46 Lower Belgrave Street. Shortly before 9pm, Rivett went down to the basement kitchen to make a cup of tea, but when she did not reappear, Lady Lucan went to investigate. <\/p>\n\n

The kitchen was in total darkness. Lady Lucan heard a clatter, before a blunt object smashed into her head. It was only when her attacker snarled for her to be quiet that she recognised her husband\u2019s voice. Managing to escape, she fled the house and made her way to The Plumbers Arms, where the alarm was raised. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cLord Lucan claimed he just happened to walk past his former home and spotted the attack through the window\u201d <\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n

\"\"
A massive manhunt got underway after the murder, but there was no confirmed sighting of Lord Lucan ever again <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n
Mistaken identity<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n

When the police arrived, they found Rivett\u2019s body in a sack, along with a blood-covered lead pipe. A distraught Lady Lucan was convinced her husband had intended to kill her and, in the dark, mistook the nanny for her. Rivett usually had that night of the week off. <\/p>\n\n

Lord Lucan was nowhere to be found. Instead, it turned out, he had driven out of London to Sussex to the home of his friend, Susan Maxwell-Scott. This is the last confirmed sighting of him. He insisted on his innocence, writing letters to other friends detailing his \u201ctraumatic night of unbelievable coincidences\u201d, in which he claimed he had just happened to walk past his former home and spotted the attack by an unknown assailant through the window. He then ran in to help. On 11 November, the car Lord Lucan was driving was discovered, abandoned, at Newhaven on the south coast. Blood stained the upholstery, and another lead pipe was hidden in the boot.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

Lord Lucan was the prime suspect for the murder, yet he has never been, officially, seen again. There are dozens of conspiracy theories to explain what happened to him, from drowning in the Channel to the wild idea that he shot himself and asked for his body to be fed to a tiger at a zoo. Others are convinced that he fled to foreign shores: there have been more than 70 supposed sightings, from Ireland to New Zealand. <\/p>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

DID YOU KNOW?<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

MISSING MURDERER<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

At an inquest in 1975, Lord Lucan was officially found to have murdered Sandra Rivett. As he was still missing, however, the case never went to trial. The manhunt continued for years: only in 2016 was he declared legally dead.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

<\/div>
\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

BBC 100<\/span><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Every month throughout 2022, we\u2019ll be commemorating the BBC\u2019s 100th birthday with a trip down memory lane..<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
William Hartnell as the First Doctor, a role he played from 1963 to 1966 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

23 November 1963 <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The TARDIS lands on TV screens <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Families across Britain settle in for the premiere of Doctor Who, <\/em>described by the Radio Times <\/em>as \u201ca new Saturday afternoon television series of adventures in time and space\u201d. The pilot sees two teachers meet a mysterious alien being, the Doctor, and step inside his bigger-on-the-inside, time-and-space-travelling police box, the TARDIS. Unfortunately, the launch of the show is overshadowed by the assassination of US president John F Kennedy just the day before. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

<\/div>
\n

Other anniversaries<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A look back at other events that have taken place in November throughout history <\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

28 November 1660 <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Royal Society is founded <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Members of a loose group of scholars, the \u2018Invisible College\u2019, meet after a lecture in London to form a society (the seal of which is seen right) committed to unravelling the mysteries of science. Two years later, it is given the royal stamp of approval from King Charles II. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

26 November 1872 <\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Great Diamond hoax dazzles the US <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

At a time of gold and silver rushes in the United States, two Kentucky conmen convince people they have discovered a rich diamond deposit. Instead, they have planted uncut diamonds, mostly from South Africa. By the time the hoax is uncovered, the men have already sold stakes in the land for millions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The California Gold Rush laid the groundwork for the diamond hoax <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n

GETTY IMAGES X3, ALAMY X3<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Murder suspect Lord Lucan disappears<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":18549,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"14","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"14","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_14-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_14-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"November-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"November-2022","purple_external_id":"November-2022-14-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"November-2022-14-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000090402||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000090402||","purple_android_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_ios_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.historyrevealed.113","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"a2288b80-d22c-492c-8b11-acb0804789ee","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-10-03T13:44:16Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"d86b7ce4-1f5f-45fe-ad77-141860b9e22a","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-10-03T13:44:17Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAD\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/w==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/A2Gt85B9fRf6tdxQYYLniKg","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[16],"tags":[55],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-e1664115685375.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"6","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-e1664115685375.jpg",1494,1004,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-e1664115685375-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-e1664115685375-300x202.jpg",300,202,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-e1664115685375-768x516.jpg",768,516,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-e1664115685375-1024x688.jpg",800,538,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-1536x1138.jpg",1536,1138,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2022\/09\/4ddd0ced-bfb1-4c94-8de2-ae274f47515b-e1664115685375.jpg",1494,1004,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistoryrevealed\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Murder 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