Lord Lucan’s widow claims he would beat her before they had sex in new documentary
Lady Lucan also revealed she is 'deeply sad' over the death of nanny Sandra Rivett
LORD Lucan's widow has claimed the aristocrat would "beat her with a cane" before they had sex in a new documentary.
Lady Lucan has spoken about her fraught relationship with her husband who went missing in 1974 after attacking her and the children's nanny at their home.
Nanny Sandra Rivett, then 29, died from her injuries but his wife Veronica, aged 37 at the time, survived the attack in Belgravia, London.
His disappearance has remained an unsolved mystery for more than 40 years, despite many alleged but unverified "sightings" of him.
In the new hour-long ITV programme, Lady Lucan revealed how she became depressed when the marriage broke down and how her husband would hit her on the bottom with a cane to "beat the mad ideas out of her head".
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Lady Lucan said: "They were measured blows. He must have got pleasure out of it because he had intercourse (with me) afterwards."
The 79-year-old, who has not spoken to her three children for 35 years, described how she begged for her life when she confronted her husband after he attacked Sandra.
When asked if she had any regrets, Lady Lucan replied: "‘I am deeply sad that my marriage caused Sandra Rivett to die."
She believes her husband killed himself after jumping off a ferry, reported .
Another new theory has emerged courtesy of thriller writer Peter James, who claims to have close contact within Lucan's former circle of friends.
James claims that Lucan's pals including zoo owner John Aspinall feared prosecution for helping Lucan flee Britain, and after the peer made insistent demands to speak to his children, they feared their cover would be blown, and had him killed.
He claimed: “Aspinall and his friends panicked and thought they were done for.
“They had him bumped off in Switzerland, Mafia-style, and the body buried.”
Over the years there have been numerous alleged sightings of Lord Lucan across the world in Africa, India, and New Zealand.
An alternative theory suggested by a former pal earlier this year was that his body was fed to a tiger at Aspinall's Zoo in Kent.
Despite his wealthy background, at the time of the incident, Lucan was saddled with gambling debts, which could have contributed to his mental state.
Lord Lucan was officially declared dead in February at the High Court after his son, George Bingham, 49, now the eighth Lord Lucan, made an application for a death certificate under the Presumption of Death Act.
The couple's two other children are Frances, 52, and Camilla, 46.
The programme will be shown next Monday June 5 at 9pm on ITV1.
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