Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes Kept in Care Home Illegally
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What prompted journalist Alex Diggins to investigate Ranulph Fiennes' disappearance?
The Claire Byrne Show on News Talk. With Aviva Insurance. Now we move to British explorer Ranulf Fynes, who has allegedly been kept in care homes illegally and under false names by his wife, Louise Millington Coates. Now Ranulf Fynes left public life two years ago, and his friends and his family are said to have been worried about his welfare. The Telegraph has been following this story for months, and we're joined by Alex Diggins, who has been speaking with Ranulf's family. You're welcome to the show, Alex. Thank you for the first. for joining us.
Thanks very much, Claire. Good morning.
So tell me when you started following this story or what prompted your your involvement?
How did Ranulph Fiennes’ Parkinson’s diagnosis affect his public life and lectures?
Yes, absolutely. So um I'm a freelance journalist, but I used to work for the Telegraph and um in March this year various uh runs in a circle, Ranolph finds us in a circle, got in touch discreetly with the telegraph. Um he's obviously a public figure and uh a very private man, so um they're very subtle about it. Got in touch with the telegraph and said told us something extraordinary. Which was that they hadn't been able to contact ran. Um they hadn't seen him. and they didn't know where he was and what his condition was and that was from September twenty four. They hadn't seen or or or heard about him and they were deeply worried for um his well being. So they asked us to investigate. So for the last six months or so, um
What were the circumstances of Ranulph’s last public appearances in 2024?
That's what I've been doing with my colleagues at the Telegraph.
Mm-hmm.
Um, we've been digging into it, speaking to Rand's friends and family, um, lots of his old expedition mates and um and some of um some of his closest friends and trying to get the bottom of um well of just that, you know, where he is, how he is and um whether he's well.
And he's he's eighty two. I mean, w what were people telling you about how he was when he was last seen openly back in in twenty twenty four?
Sure. So um he w prior to twenty twenty four, um, he had been pretty open about the fact he had a Parkinson's diagnosis and he had even done sort of T V programs with um Joseph Heinz, uh the actor who's a second cousin and they sort of talked about the impact. that the Parkinson's diagnosis had had on him. Um friends told me um in private he was pretty kind of bullish uh about it. He sort of treated it a bit like um kind of an inconvenience. Um, you know, there's the man who once uh cut off his own frostbitten fingers with a saw, so, you know, he's a pretty uh he's a pretty hard he's a pretty hard chap exactly. Um so he wasn't gonna let the Parkinson's diagnosis faze him.
How were care homes used to hide Ranulph Fiennes and what aliases were applied?
Um but also he was slowing down and it was making his pretty energetic and aggressive lecture theatre tour difficult. Um so he began to wind that down in uh late um twenty twenty four, uh, did his last series of lectures in September twenty four. Um and then um And then he had a car accident um near his home in Shropshire and uh went back to the family home um that he shared with Louise uh Fines, Louise Lington Coates, um, his second wife and um Then his final public appearance was a video brief video segment in october twenty four, uh where he spoke at the RGS um for a celebration of the Trans Globe expedition, um which was one of his most sort of significant expeditions.
And then from from there it's quite an extraordinary story, uh according to what you report in this piece for the for the telegraph. So you have a watchdog that has concluded that he was unlawfully deprived of his liberty. He has been placed in care homes according to what you've uncovered, but the staff there have been told not to reveal that he is there. He must be disguised if he goes out for a walk, and there are questions over the medication he's being given.
Yes, absolutely. So um so since his disappearance, um public disappearance in October twenty four, um we've ascertained that he has been kept in a series of care homes, um and at one point also in a hotel room.
Why did Louise Millington‑Cotes insist on disguising Ranulph during walks?
and um being moved between these care homes under a succession of aliases, um, which changed most times that he moved.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What prompted journalist Alex Diggins to investigate Ranulph Fiennes' disappearance?
0:01–0:43
2
How did Ranulph Fiennes’ Parkinson’s diagnosis affect his public life and lectures?
0:43–1:32
3
What were the circumstances of Ranulph’s last public appearances in 2024?
1:32–2:44
4
How were care homes used to hide Ranulph Fiennes and what aliases were applied?
2:44–4:25
5
Why did Louise Millington‑Cotes insist on disguising Ranulph during walks?
4:25–5:46
6
How did Ranulph’s sister‑in‑law Arabella try to locate him inside the care homes?
5:46–6:56
7
What legal and public actions are being considered after the Telegraph report?
6:56–7:49