Welcome to the History Extra podcast, fascinating historical conversations from the makers of BBC History Magazine.

On the 7th of November 1974, Nanny Sandra Rivett was found murdered in the affluent neighbourhood of London's Belgravia.

The prime suspect was the father of her young charges, Lord Lucan.

But before the aristocrat could be questioned, he vanished, sparking one of the greatest core

celebras of the 20th century.

Laura Thompson is the author of a book about Luchin's disappearance,

a different class of murder.

And I spoke to her to find out more about the case

and what it can tell us about simmering class tensions in Britain at the time.

So I wonder if we can start this story with the night that kicked

everything off. There are so many unknowns in the story of Lord Lucan, but what do we know? What can we

say for certain about that night in November 1974? Yes, surprisingly little is corroborated fact, which is very interesting. This is a case

with a very strong mythology around it. What we do know is that in the extremely unlikely

environments of London's Belgravia, prime real estate, at a house at 46 Lower Belgrave Street,

in the basement of this tall, six-story house, a woman was murdered.

Sandra Rivett, age 29, who was the nanny to the three young children of Lord and Lady Lucan, who were estranged.

They'd been estranged since January 1973.

There'd been a very, very better custody battle, which Lady Lucan had won.

She'd had a succession of nannies, and poor Sandra Rivett was the one in situ on this night.

Because the general belief, which is almost

certainly true, is that she was killed in error, that the intended victim was in fact Lady Lucan,

the Countess of Lucan, Veronica, who was then 37. And the general belief, which again is probably true, although many other theories are available,

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