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On October 23, 2024, the Royal Geographical Society organised a gala evening to celebrate the life of Sir Ranulph Fiennes, ‘the world’s greatest living explorer’.
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Society → see → Fiennes
The RGS in South Kensington is filled with memorabilia from his derring-do exploits that could have come straight from the pages of a Boy’s Own annual.
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that → fill → annual
The sledge he dragged through the Antarctic on his record-breaking unsupported crossing of the vast continent, which began in 1992 and ended 93 gruelling days later in 1993, is hanging in the hallway.
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which → drag → hallway
Also on display is the replica of the ‘radio hut’ used in his epic pole-to-pole surface circumnavigation of the globe – seven years in the planning and nearly three to complete – something no one else has ever done.
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one → use → planning
He climbed the north face of the Eiger (aged 62), stood at the summit of Everest (aged 65) and, along the way, discovered the lost city of Ubar (the so-called ‘Atlantis of the Sands’) in Oman.
So everyone at the dinner that night was eagerly waiting to hear from the great man, now in his 80s, whose name in the roll-call of great British adventurers ranks alongside Scott and Shackleton.
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name → climb → Scott
He never arrived.
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He → arrive → ?
Instead, the ‘guest of honour’ appeared in a brief, pre-recorded video from his sofa.
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guest → appear → sofa
Sir Ranulph Fiennes made his last public appearance via video at an event for the Royal Geographical Society in South Kensington
Sir Ranulph pictured with his second wife Lady Louise Millington-Cotes
‘Hello, everybody, Ran here,’ he said, glasses perched on his nose and reading from a script which was just out of shot.
‘
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which → make → shot
I’m sorry I’m not well enough to be with you there this evening.
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I → ’m → you
I do hope we will be together for many more adventures to come.’
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we → hope → adventures
Then the screen went blank and he was gone.
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he → go → ?
Who in the audience could have possibly imagined that it would be the last time Sir Ranulph was seen in public?
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Ranulph → imagine → public
Letters wishing him well have been returned to senders unopened.
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Letters → wish → senders
The usual Christmas cards from him have never arrived.
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cards → arrive → him
His absence and silence – in the aftermath of that now haunting clip – have become the main topic of conversation among those who know and love him in email chains and WhatsApp groups.
Finally, nearly two years on, they have gone public.
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they → haunt → chains
‘Where in the world is Ranulph Fiennes?’ is the sensational headline of a new blog posted by his close friend Michael Kobold.
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headline → post → friend
Sir Ranulph in a snow hut in Antarctica in 1979 as part of the Transglobe Expedition
‘It’s time to unveil a secret: My friend of almost 30 years has gone missing and nobody besides a tiny handful of individuals seems to want to do anything to change this disgraceful status quo,’ he writes.
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he → ’ → quo
The filmmaker and author collaborated on one of Sir Ranulph’s books and has shared many adventures with him down the years, including hunting Nazi war criminals and taking part in climbing expeditions in the Alps and on Everest.
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filmmaker → collaborate → Everest
He reveals an extraordinary story – the hyperbole is justified in this case – behind the ‘disappearance’ of Sir Ranulph in his long and detailed missive.
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hyperbole → reveal → missive
It involves the intervention of his close friend King Charles, actor Joseph Fiennes – star of Shakespeare in Love, who is said to have joined the search for his cousin – and an ‘undercover operation’ at a London care home where Sir Ranulph was suspected to be living at one point.
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Ranulph → involve → point
All of which makes astonishing reading.
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All → make → reading
‘That a national hero like Ran Fiennes could end up in such a predicament is shocking,’ added Mr Kobold.
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Kobold → end → predicament
The chain of events that has culminated in the ongoing mystery surrounding Sir Ranulph’s whereabouts began more than two decades ago with the death in 2004 of his beloved first wife Virginia ‘Ginny’ Fiennes, his childhood sweetheart, from cancer.
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that → culminate → cancer
Sir Ranulph considered ending his own life after he lost the woman he had been married to for 34 years.
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he → consider → years
But a little over a year later – against all expectations – he met someone who became his new wife.
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who → meet → someone
At 38, Louise Millington-Cotes, a horse trainer from Cheshire, was 23 years younger than Sir Ranulph and had a young son, Alexander.
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Cotes → have → son
Sir Ranulph pictured with his first wife, childhood sweetheart Virginia ‘Ginny’ Fiennes, who died in 2004 from cancer
Sir Ranulph became a father for the first time at the age of 62 shortly after they were married when their daughter Elizabeth was born.
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daughter → picture → 62
The couple, who met at a Royal Geographical Society event, divided their time between their two farms – one in the wilds of Exmoor, where Sir Ranulph trained for his expeditions by going on long runs, the other in the West Midlands.
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Ranulph → meet → Midlands
Almost from the beginning, there were reports that all was not well.
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all → be → beginning
A string of key staff at Exmoor, including Sir Ranulph’s long-serving personal assistant and a couple who managed the estate, left after the arrival of the new Mrs Fiennes.
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who → include → Fiennes
At the same time, his friends – many of whom were not invited to the wedding – spoke of being cut out since the marriage.
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many → invite → marriage
This sounds eerily familiar to Christopher Bowler, the former partner of Louise Fiennes and the father of Alexander.
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This → sound → Alexander
They split up soon after their son was born in 1995.
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son → split → 1995
Mr Bowler, 65, who runs a hospitality business, exclusively told the Daily Mail this week: ‘I met Ranulph once or twice dropping Alexander off at the end of a weekend at a petrol station in Cheshire.
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I → run → Cheshire
‘I felt like saying to him – one bloke to another – “Don’t do it, don’t marry her”.
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I → feel → her
I could just see that he was going to have so much trouble and strife.
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he → see → trouble
In the end I didn’t say anything because I was nervous that he might have told her, and I probably wouldn’t have seen Alex ever again.
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I → say → Alex
‘She cut me off from all my family and friends in subtle and not so subtle ways.
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She → cut → ways
They gave up calling because she would never tell me that they had rung.
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they → give → me
I ended up feeling very isolated.’
Ranulph (left) pictured with wife Louise Fiennes (centre) and his third cousin, actor Ralph Fiennes (right) in London in 2012
Indeed, not long after Ran and Louise were married, Mr Bowler told The Mail on Sunday of his troubling experiences with his ex, recalling that she had refused to name him as Alexander’s father.
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she → end → father
…and 55 more, not listed.
The Aporia
