Missing British earl Richard John Bingham declared dead by court

Britain's High Court finally granted the death certificate of missing royal, Richard John Bingham, the Seventh Earl of Lucan, to his son, George Bingham. The earl went missing more than four decades ago when one of the family's household helper was killed in their residence.

Bingham's obtaining the certificate means that he can legally inherit his father's title including all the estates tied to the title, Yahoo News reported, citing the Associated Press. He will be the Eight Earl of Lucan, the newswire noted.

"I am very happy with the judgment of the court in this matter. It has been a very long time coming," Bingham was cited as saying.

The case of the missing earl has been a puzzle for British media and U.K. citizens. He went missing and has never been found since Sandra Rivett, the family's nanny, was found dead on Nov. 7, 1974, at the Lucan residence.

The night of the incident, Rivett went down to the basement of the residence to get a cup of tea when she was killed by the attacker using a lead pipe, The Independent reported. Her body was placed in mail sack. Lucan's estranged wife, Lady Veronica Lucan, was also attacked when she went to see what happened. However, she was able to escape and survived the attack.

Lady Lucan identified her husband as the assailant, and a jury decided that Lucan murdered Rivett. One of the evidences was Lucan's car, which has bloodstains, that was found near the south coast. Investigators believed that he planned to murder his wife but mistakenly killed Rivett. The speculation was that he committed suicide by drowning in the English Channel, despite investigators not finding any remains of the earl.

Earlier this year, Philippe Marcq, Lucan's friend, said that Lucan was seen going to Howletts Wild Animal Park in Kent after the incident, the International Business Times reported. Marcq cited Clermont Club regular Stephen Raphael as his source.

Rivett's son, Neil Berriman, said he was "pleased" with the court's decision, despite his mother's death remaining an unsolved case.

"It is still a mystery what happened. We do not know how this lovely lady died in 1974, but Neil lost a mother and I lost a father. We still do not know how he met his end," he was cited as saying.

Tags

Richard Bingham, Seventh Earl of Lucan, George Bingham, Sandra Rivett, London, Earl's mysterious disappearance, Rivett's murder

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