She spoke of suicide after hand tremor sparked fears
She has for some time been considering how to take her own life DR FIONA WILCOX WESTMINSTER CORONER
LADY Lucan started planning suicide after developing a tremor in her right hand and becoming forgetful, her inquest heard.
The 80-year-old feared she had Parkinson’s and took her own life with a mixture of drink and drugs.
But the wife of notorious fugitive Lord Lucan was never diagnosed with the disease and tests after her death showed her brain was normal.
The inquest heard she began writing notes about how to kill herself in her diary. She also bought books on assisted dying and visited a local library to use a computer before she was found dead in her London mews home last September.
Friend David Davies told the hearing the pair had talked about suicide if either developed a terminal condition. And he claimed Lady Lucan had money worries.
Mr Davies added: “We both discussed how to end our lives but only if we developed a degenerative or terminal illness or became reliant on other people.
“There was nothing in her behaviour to suggest anything was wrong. Although she thought she had the onset of Parkinson’s.
“We went to an Exit lecture on how to help people with a terminal illness end their lives.
“We discussed sleeping tablets, but we believed these tablets were only available in America.
“But there was nothing to suggest she was considering this and she seemed cheerful the last time I saw her. She gave the impression she was hard up and had to watch every penny.”
She was the last person to see her husband alive after he fled accused of killing the family nanny Sandra Rivett, 29, in November 1974.
Lady Lucan died from respiratory failure caused by an overdose of barbiturates and alcohol. The inquest was told one of the drugs included Secobarbital, which is not normally prescribed to patients in Britain.
In a diary entry last August Lady Lucan listed potential suicide items.
And one entry shortly before she died detailed the symptoms she believed were Parkinson’s.
Her body was found in her Belgravia home by police who were alerted by a friend after she did not turn up for their regular walk.
Recording a verdict of suicide, Coroner Dr Fiona Wilcox told the Westminster hearing: “It’s clear Veronica Mary Lucan has for some time been considering how she could, if she was to take her own life.
“She considered she suffered from Parkinson’s, but there is no formal diagnosis. Although there is no suicide note there are diary entries in which she details these thoughts.”
Lady Lucan had gone through the final edit of her autobiography a month before her death. She was involved in a feud with her children, George, Frances and Camilla. Camilla was at the inquest.
Lord and Lady Lucan were fighting for custody of their children. He is thought to have killed Sandra after mistaking her for his wife.
Sandra’s son Neil Berriman, 50, said after the inquest: “I’m a bit surprised she killed herself as I can’t really imagine her being that sort of person. It is a shame.”