{"id":816631,"date":"2026-10-28T15:56:14","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T15:56:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/816631\/"},"modified":"2026-10-28T15:56:14","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T15:56:14","slug":"ranulph-fienness-wife-allows-first-visitors-to-see-him-after-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/816631\/","title":{"rendered":"Ranulph Fiennes\u2019s wife allows \u2018first visitors to see him after two years\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Sir Ranulph Fiennes\u2019 wife <\/a>has allowed selected friends and family members to visit him after concerns were raised <\/a>that the famous explorer had not been seen in two years. <\/p>\n

The retired adventurer was thought to have been moved to live in a Shropshire farmhouse but is now living in a specialist dementia unit, according to The Telegraph. His location has been shared with a select few, but not with his stepson Alex Millington-Cotes. <\/p>\n

His mother, Louise Millington-Cotes, has come under scrutiny in recent months after it emerged she had moved Sir Ranulph to different care homes <\/a>under fake names and had refused to allow visitors unless they signed a non-disclosure agreement. <\/p>\n

After media interest, friends and family called for an investigation into his wellbeing by both the police and the Office of the Public Guardian, and are pressing ahead with a request for a Court of Protection hearing to rule whether she is exercising her power of attorney over him appropriately. <\/p>\n

One person said: \u201cWe want to know \u2013 has she acted in his best interests? One can\u2019t help but feel that being in a good place with a gentle stream of familiar faces to break up the day will keep him feeling loved and supported, and that can only be a good thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"SirSir Ranulph\u2019s wife Louise Millington-Cotes has allowed certain visitors to see him (PA)<\/p>\n

Those who have seen the 82-year-old have reported that he is being well cared for and has a carer who keeps him company. <\/p>\n

His stepson, who is estranged from his mother, said he is desperate to see his stepfather and is concerned that he will never see him again. <\/p>\n

Mr Millington-Cotes told The Telegraph: \u201cThis doesn\u2019t change things from my perspective. It obviously nuances the situation somewhat. But she hasn\u2019t acted right from the beginning, and the current press coverage forcing her hand doesn\u2019t make it better.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, she is still in control and, if she\u2019s unhappy with something for some reason or another, she could just pull visitation rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe intention of the legal challenge has never been to attack Louise, though I\u2019m sure she won\u2019t see it that way. The intention has been to remove her power over Ran, but in a way which causes least harm to him. I\u2019d like to change the situation without Ran\u2019s perception of things changing, that the whole underlying structure has changed for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n

On visits, he said: \u201cI think it\u2019s really, really selective and quite tightly controlled unfortunately, which is a shame.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the lack of visibility that concerns me, and I suppose, obviously, there\u2019s not really much transparency there still for anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIt\u2019s really not just about me, and it\u2019s not even necessarily about other people. It\u2019s about Ran\u2019s access to anyone who he wishes to see.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo far, it seems to be particular selected individuals for one reason or another, and it\u2019s just not right. It\u2019s not coming from his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cI just worry very much about him. I don\u2019t know whether the room he\u2019s in is really comfortable, (if) he\u2019s got all sorts of mementos to allow him to think about his past times and all the good times he\u2019s had \u2013 I just don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n

The King was reportedly among those blocked as he tried to check on the wellbeing of his long-time friend after being alerted to concerns about his declining health and isolation.<\/p>\n

Charles was left \u201cmost concerned\u201d after fellow explorer Anton Bowring wrote to him in February last year asking for his help, The Telegraph revealed.<\/p>\n

But Ms Millington-Cotes, who is Sir Ranulph\u2019s second wife, was said to have blocked the King\u2019s attempts to reach out, the newspaper reported.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe famous explorer is said to be living in a specialise dementia care unit (Getty)<\/p>\n

It is understood Mr Bowring sent a letter to the monarch\u2019s principal private secretary Sir Clive Alderton, saying Sir Ranulph was \u201cin a very poor state\u201d and had been in the care of his wife since the previous September and that his friends were worried.<\/p>\n

The King\u2019s then-equerry, Commander William Thornton, contacted Mr Bowring later the same month saying Charles wanted to write to Sir Ranulph, Ms Millington-Cotes and their daughter Elizabeth to express his concern and see if there was anything he could do anything to help.<\/p>\n

He also asked for Ms Millington-Cotes\u2019 phone number, but she reportedly fired off angry text messages to Mr Bowring after Buckingham Palace<\/a> was given her details.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Membership today.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":816632,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[6491,96,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-816631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=816631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/816631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/816632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=816631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=816631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=816631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}