Nocturnal 
Sir Ranulph Fiennes, widely regarded as Britain’s greatest living explorer, has not been seen in public for two years – and it has now emerged he was allegedly kept in a series of care homes illegally under a false name by his wife.
A care watchdog concluded earlier this year that the 82-year-old had been “unlawfully deprived of his liberty” while in her care, according to The Telegraph, which first reported the story.
Friends and family, including veteran BBC correspondent John Simpson, are now calling for an urgent investigation into his welfare.
What’s alleged to have happened
Sir Ranulph’s wife, Louise Millington-Cotes, 59, was granted lasting power of attorney over his affairs in 2024. Since then, it’s claimed she has moved him between care homes – including facilities in London, Wales and Cheshire – registered under a fake name, and stopped friends and family from knowing his whereabouts.
The owner of the care home in Wales, where Sir Ranulph spent seven weeks earlier this year, reportedly raised concerns with the Office of the Public Guardian (OPG), the Care Inspectorate of Wales and the police. Those concerns are said to have included unusual medication arrangements and the validity of a “do not resuscitate” document supplied by Mrs Millington-Cotes.
According to The Telegraph, the care home owner said Mrs Millington-Cotes told staff her husband was “an ex-SAS man whose life might be in danger from extremists” and claimed staff at a previous home had tried to kill him. It’s alleged she made visitors sign non-disclosure agreements and had Sir Ranulph wear a hat, sunglasses and gloves in public so he wouldn’t be recognised. None of these claims have been independently verified.
The Care Inspectorate of Wales reportedly concluded that Sir Ranulph was “deprived of his liberty unlawfully” because no deprivation of liberty safeguards (DoLS) order – a legal protection for vulnerable people who can’t consent to restrictive care – had been put in place, despite Mrs Millington-Cotes being told it was required as his legal guardian.
Family demand answers
Concerns about Sir Ranulph’s whereabouts first surfaced when he failed to turn up to a Royal Geographical Society gala held in his honour on 23 October 2024, appearing only in a pre-recorded video message. He hasn’t been seen publicly since.
Simpson, a friend of the explorer, wrote on X that he was “horrified to hear what’s happened to my good friend Ran Fiennes”, adding: “I’d like to tell the relevant authorities everything I know about the way he’s been treated. He’s the world’s bravest man, and he’s vulnerable. We must know what’s happening to him.”
Alexander Millington-Cotes, Sir Ranulph’s stepson and Mrs Millington-Cotes’s estranged son, told The Telegraph he had contacted the OPG’s safeguarding team but had “heard nothing back so far”.
Sir Ranulph, who has Parkinson’s disease, married Louise Millington-Cotes in the years after the death of his first wife, Virginia “Ginny” Fiennes, from cancer in 2004. The couple’s daughter, Elizabeth, is now 20.
Where things stand
Friends and relatives are reportedly considering a legal challenge to Mrs Millington-Cotes’s guardianship, in a case that has raised wider questions about oversight of the power of attorney system. No allegation against Mrs Millington-Cotes has been proven, and Nocturnal News has not seen any response from her. The OPG has yet to confirm publicly whether a formal investigation has begun.
