logo
book Subscribe to our Magazine
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
    • Grassroots Fundraising Journal
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Podcasts
    • Tiny Spark
    • Women of Color in Power
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership

Homeless Families Benefit as Dramatic Lord Lucan Story Concludes

Ruth McCambridge
January 18, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

January 18, 2018; The Sun

Of the stories we happen across when covering the world of high-dollar donors, those that involve old money can often be the most intricately familiar. So it goes for the story of the recent death and bequest of Lady Lucan of Belgrave in London.

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

In the great tradition of the revelations that accompany will-readings in British mysteries, the 80-year-old dowager countess, found dead last September in her multimillion-dollar home, declined to leave any of her assets to her three children, instead leaving every penny to a homeless charity. But also in the tradition of those mysteries, set against the familiar backdrop of declining aristocratic circumstances, there are some twists:

  1. The murder in this mystery was not of the dowager countess, who apparently discreetly killed herself under the misapprehension that she was fatally ill. Instead, the murder happened in 1974, when Lord Richard John Lucan, who has gone missing ever since, apparently killed the family nanny when he mistook her for his then-estranged wife. The marriage was described as “grimly unhappy”; one supposes it would be, involving one so violent.
  2. Lucan looked the part of the professional gambler he was, and was reportedly a candidate for the screen adaptations of Ian Fleming’s James Bond novels.
  3. The three Lucan children continue to have not a bad word to say about their mother, who stopped speaking to them 30 years ago. In fact, they say they remember her lovingly and with great admiration and made sure she was well housed in the family estate (though it did not belong to her). Two have publicly congratulated her on her charitable choice.
  4. Despite this, Lady Lucan accused them in her will of having bad manners and thus ineligible for an inheritance from her.

But despite all of that, her legacy of £576,000 left to Shelter—a gift which appears to be supported by all involved—cannot be anything but a mitzvah.—Ruth McCambridge

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ruth McCambridge

Ruth is Editor Emerita of the Nonprofit Quarterly. Her background includes forty-five years of experience in nonprofits, primarily in organizations that mix grassroots community work with policy change. Beginning in the mid-1980s, Ruth spent a decade at the Boston Foundation, developing and implementing capacity building programs and advocating for grantmaking attention to constituent involvement.

More about: Celebrity CharitiesNonprofit NewsPhilanthropyScandals

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

NPQ_Spring_2022

You might also like
What Is the Nonprofit Sector of a Future, Equitable World?
Devon Kearney
New Data Tells Us Where Donor-Advised Fund Dollars Go—And Don’t Go
Chuck Collins and Helen Flannery
Report Maps the Philanthropy of Millionaire Donors of Color
Steve Dubb
One Nation Under a Groove: How to Build a Black Future Through Strong, Black-Led Community Organizations
Shawn A. Ginwright
This is What Solidarity Looks Like: Global Racial Justice in Antiwar Organizing
Kitana Ananda
Making Federal Infrastructure Funding Equitable—What Philanthropy Can Do
Lois DeBacker and Joe Evans

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
June 9th, 2 pm ET

Remaking the Economy

Wage Justice, Now!

Register
You might also like
What Is the Nonprofit Sector of a Future, Equitable World?
Devon Kearney
New Data Tells Us Where Donor-Advised Fund Dollars Go—And...
Chuck Collins and Helen Flannery
Report Maps the Philanthropy of Millionaire Donors of Color
Steve Dubb
WOMEN OF COLOR IN POWER
Women of Color in Power

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe
Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Authentic Leadership
Reclaiming Interrupted Lineages

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Submissions
  • Advertisers
  • Newsletters
  • Copyright

Subscribe to View Webinars

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.