Susan Tyser, who has died aged 87, was a 1950s society figure who was photographed by Snowdon and was a debutante girlfriend of Lord Bingham, later the Earl of Lucan. Had they married after she came out in the season of 1956, the course of English social history might have been very different.
She was born Susan Remnant in London on May 9 1938; her brother Jimmy became a founder of the investment trust firm Touche Remnant. In her family were politicians, presidents of Pop at Eton, city grandees and county cricketers. Her grandfather, James Remnant, was raised to the peerage in 1928, having been MP for Holborn. Her father Robert (“Jack”) acceded to the barony in 1933, his maiden speech in the Lords described as “delightful” and showing “natural modesty” – qualities Susan, known as Sue, inherited.
Home was 24 Sloane Avenue – later Kerry Packer’s London base – but during the war the family moved to their seat, Bear Place in Berkshire. Although the Blitz was visible from the terrace, it quickly became a Camelot for Sue, who was a magnet to a wide circle of friends, among them the future financier Roger Gibbs and his friend John Bingham, Lady Sainsbury, and Lady Elton, later a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth II.
With her gleaming white 1200 Karmann Ghia sports car safely garaged, Susan attended 54 of the 1956 season’s debutante dances, culminating in a party at Claridge’s. That she was still standing by then was testament to her stamina. She relished being a hostess and later in life the gates at West Hanney, the Tysers’ Georgian house in Oxfordshire, were never shut.
Susan as a debutante
She shared a flat in Eaton Terrace with Jenny Loehnis, daughter of the GCHQ director Sir Clive Loehnis. Other places appeared on her radar. St Moritz with her boyfriend Bingham was a memorable trip: they enjoyed the skiing and the late-night parties at the Corviglia club. Bingham, fond of hurtling down the Cresta Run, was thrilled that his girlfriend drove a fast car.
Interviewed by Sally Moore for her 1987 book Lucan: Not Guilty, Susan Tyser revealed little publicly about Lucan, who vanished in 1974 after the murder of his family nanny. But privately, she long maintained that her ex-boyfriend was “too gentle” to have committed the brutal crime. Seeing the best in people was one of her traits.
Bingham, in turn, confided to friends that Sue was too good for him. Travels to Positano, Santorini and Barbados followed their break-up. In New York she found time – unusually – to work, with The Times reporting in 1963 that she spearheaded a movement whereby “the British secretary became a new status symbol”.
But leisure still featured, the Express noting that she was an accomplished shot. Caught unawares, she told the reporter that she hoped to be even better by the time her father left hospital. A wag in the letters section later asked “if she got him next time?”
This made Lord Remnant’s question to Alan Tyser, a partner of Hoare Govett, quite intimidating: “Can you afford to keep her?” Years older, divorced and a decorated oarsman, Tyser initially appeared unsuitable. Forewarned, he simply produced his tax return with a flourish from his breast pocket. But the sale, a year later, by Alan’s father to Alain Delon of Dürer’s Stag Beetle – still inch-for-inch one of the most valuable works of art in the world – may not have been entirely unrelated.
Married life began in Pelham Crescent, where the drawing room was seldom empty. But it was West Hanney where Sue’s passion for community shone brightest. When not working for the tour company Serenissima – she was ideally suited to this, being fluent in Italian and in the foibles of dukes and busboys alike – she poured energy into local life, always with a Norfolk terrier nearby.
Her projects included kneelers for the church, garden parties for the Women’s Institute and Nativity plays in her outbuildings. She was a great listener and soother of troubled waters, not to mention a gifted tapestry worker; her crewel work often took six years per piece.
After her husband death in 2005, she found happiness in companionship with Lennox Hannay, while his charitable trust was helping restore St Paul’s Cathedral. She is survived by her son Harry.
Susan Tyser, born May 9 1938, died July 31 2025