Reasons why the 7th Earl was not presumed deceased in 1981 - seven years after his disappearance in November 1974

It was decided very early on in 1975 between the then Official Solicitor and the trustees of the Lucan family trusts (under the umbrella of the Official Solicitor - guardian ad litem of the three Lucan children) to treat the 7th Earl as having died, unofficially of course, in financial terms.

I consider my late husband's income should have been still treated as his and distributed to me as his wife for the maintenance of myself and our three children but it was not.

In The Times obituary of Sir Stanley Rees on 18th January 2001 (he was the judge appointed to hear the full custody proceedings in June 1973) they did not mention possibly the most important part of the Judge's Order which was that my late husband should produce his proposals for financing the education of the three Lucan wards within eighteen months.

Seventeen months had passed by the time Mrs Rivett had been killed and my late husband had vanished but no proposals had been forthcoming from the 7th Earl. It was the Official Solicitor's responsibility as guardian ad litem of the three Lucan wards to ensure that this was done.

I have had to suffer for his failure to insist that the 7th Earl complied with the Judge's Order. The vexed question of financing our children's education was one of the main reasons I consulted solicitors during December 1972 and this had eventually led to the custody case proceedings.

The 7th Earl of Lucan was unnecessarily bankrupted in 1975 when he had the assets to pay off all his debts. This proved to be enormously expensive and his bankruptcy was not discharged until 1986.

It became apparent that the difficulties surrounding the valuation of the gravel land at Laleham which formed a major asset of the English Estate and at such time as Messrs Coutts (the trustees) became in a position to agree appropriate figures with a gravel company, it was unlikely that significant progress would be made. The trusts were experiencing a liquidity problem.

I was in a position after seven years had elapsed following my late husband's disappearance to seek a decree of presumption of death or to apply for leave to swear to the death of the 7th Earl of Lucan which would in effect have engulfed the Lucan family trusts.

It also became apparent to the trustees and others that I was devoted to my family and it's best interests and was unlikely to want to remarry or indeed to behave in an inappropriate manner.

It was then that a criminal conspiracy to attempt to take away my rights began. There is a device used by the medical profession to simulate nervous breakdown and they do it to men as well as women.

My G.P. had a pharmacy attached to his practice and he prescribed the benzodiazepine drug Flurazepam, a sleeping pill to which he added among other things, steroids.

Steroids given to anyone in high enough dose will cause problems which include fattening of the face, hair on the face, changes in skin and bone, weakness, changes mentally, weight gain, obesity of the trunk, fatigue and most terrifyingly, muscle weakness in the legs causing one to fall to one's knees.

As I was such a healthy person and have always been very thin, I noticed these changes and became rightly suspicious and stopped taking the drug. One is supposed to be weaned off steroids and not to stop taking them abruptly as I did. However, I survived this but to shocking effect on my general health.

The efficient working of one's endocrine glands as I have discovered is most vital to our mental and physical health.

My health deteriorated to a great extent aided by the inappropriate use of other drugs in order to cover up a botched job and I became involuntarily addicted to benzodiazepines.

I was admitted to Banstead Hospital in December 1983 and stayed for seven months. It was planned by social workers to place me in a hostel for mentally ill persons locally. Although there was a conflict of interest as he was guardian ad litem of the wards, the Official Solicitor appointed himself my receiver while I was at the hospital and no doubt had a hand in this decision.

I managed to escape from the hospital and returned to 5 Eaton Row. My children who knew of the medical abuse remained silent and my son looted my house in my absence removing both property and documents.

Some items were returned in 1987 but my documents, custody case papers, transcripts of my custody case, photographs and personal correspondence have not been returned despite repeated requests.

This is an abuse of my human rights. ARTICLE 8: PRIVATE LIFE AND FAMILY 3.68 "You have the right to respect for your private and family life, your home and your correspondence."

I reported these thefts to the police - Crime Book Entry E492 on Saturday 19th September 1987 and visited Gerald Road Police Station on 7th December 1987 when I saw a detective inspector and another police officer.

The whole interview was most unsatisfactory. No-one could have any claim to my documents (or indeed my property) but no action was taken by the police to retrieve it.

I visited my M.P., Peter Brooke on 14th June 1991 at a surgery and described the looting of my property and documents and told him of my deep concern that hostile persons were holding it.

I did not hear from Mr Brooke again until 21st June 1993 when he said he felt the matter did not appear to fall within ordinary parliamentary responsibilities.

Taken as a whole, what I have described shows how in a so-called civilised society an individual can be subjected to horrifying abuse but it seems as Mike Dickin says frequently on TALK SPORT "you don't get justice in this country, you get law' - and if you can't afford justice you don't even get a hearing!

My late husband planned to physically murder me, later there were attempts to spiritually and psychologically murder me. What is the reason why ?

Click here for a view of more personal photographs of Lord and Lady Lucan