Desperate Lucan dreamt of fascist coup

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Murder mystery earl bought Mein Kampf and listened to Hitler's speeches

Martin Bright, home affairs editor
Sunday January 9, 2005
The Observer

When Lord Lucan walked into the second-hand department of Hatchards bookshop on 15 February 1972, he was already at the end of his tether. His marriage had collapsed, gambling debts were crushing him and he had become convinced Britain was going to the dogs.
In his growing desperation, he had convinced himself that his wife was unfit to bring up his three children and had spent the previous year trying to get her committed to mental institutions. In fact, the 7th Earl of Lucan, who disappeared in November 1974 after the murder of the family nanny, was himself growing increasingly unstable.

New evidence unearthed by The Observer shows just how extreme his politics had become as his mental state deteriorated: when he left Hatchards, the book under his arm was a Thirties translation of Hitler's political testament, Mein Kampf .

The receipt of Lucan's purchase - on account, naturally - shows that his mind was turning to increasingly authoritarian politics. The other book he bought was Grey Wolf, a biography of the Turkish leader Kemal Ataturk, its subtitle An Intimate Study of a Dictator .

The address on the receipt is 46, Lower Belgrave Street, where, two years later, the body of Sandra Rivett, the family's nanny, was found, sparking one of the most celebrated murder mysteries of the 20th century. Police later identified Lucan, who disappeared after the death and has never been found, as the prime suspect.

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/politics/story/0,6903,1386406,00.html