Ranulph Fiennes, what we know and what could an LPA have done to help

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the 82-year-old explorer, "has not been seen in public for two years" [5]. His stepson has said publicly that "Sir Ranulph Fiennes is missing" [2].

Cheshire Police take a different view. Detective Chief Superintendent Claire Jesson said police and partner agencies "are satisfied that Sir Ranulph Fiennes is living in an appropriate setting with suitable care and professional oversight. No immediate safeguarding concerns have been identified at this time" [4].

So when we say "missing" in this article, we mean what his family and friends say: they do not know where he is. We do not suggest the authorities have lost track of him.

The case matters to anyone planning for later life for one reason. His wife, Louise Millington-Cotes, "was granted a lasting power of attorney in 2024" [5]. That is the same legal document we help people make. Below we set out what has been reported, and then what can be written into an LPA to protect the person who makes it.

Read the transcript

Right now there's a story developing about one of Britain's most famous explorers, and honestly, nobody outside his own family actually knows what's going on. Before anything else, whatever the truth turns out to be here, this is someone's dad, granddad, a national treasure and inspirational character who's earned genuine admiration of a nation.

Let's go through what's been confirmed, and ignore any rumour or conspiracies. The two keep getting mixed up.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes is 82. He's had Parkinson's disease since 2019. He hasn't been seen publicly in around two years.

His stepson, Alexander, who's estranged from his own mother (Fiennes' wife Louise) has gone public saying he believes Fiennes is being unlawfully deprived of his liberty. He's calling for the Office of the Public Guardian to investigate.

Reports say King Charles, a long-time friend, tried to check on Fiennes through his equerry, and that Louise didn't pass the contact through.

Cheshire Police have actually looked into this. Their statement says Fiennes is living in an appropriate setting, with suitable care and professional oversight, and that no immediate safeguarding concerns have been identified.

Louise herself hasn't said anything publicly. She's asked not to be contacted by the press.

So here's the picture. An estranged family member is making a serious public allegation. The person accused hasn't responded. The one independent body that's actually reviewed it, the police, found no concern. Whatever's actually happening behind closed doors, families ending up this fractured, uncertainty about someone they love. It's sad to watch play out in public like this.

Quick one for you. Do we actually know, from any of this reporting, whether Fiennes even has a Lasting Power of Attorney in place, or who holds it if he does?

No. Nobody outside the family has confirmed. Not whether one exists, not who it names, not whether it's being used properly or not at all. That's the actual gap in this whole story, everyone's talking about his welfare, and nobody's talking about the legal mechanism that's supposed to protect exactly this situation.

Here's why that gap matters. A Lasting Power of Attorney is the thing that's meant to give clarity in these situations. It names, in writing, while someone still has capacity, exactly who's allowed to make decisions for them, and it can include specific preferences or instructions about contact with family, about care decisions, about who has to be kept informed. Done properly, a case like this shouldn't be a mystery. Everyone would know exactly who's responsible and what they're allowed to do.

When there isn't an LPA in place, or when nobody around someone actually knows the details of one, you end up with exactly this. Uncertainty. Accusations with nothing to check them against.

One document could have made this whole situation completely clear, one way or the other, and right now nobody seems to know if it even exists.

Does this make you think about your own position, or someone you know and love? If you (or they) never sorted one out at all, that's worth acting on rather than sitting with the uncertainty.

Speak to a solicitor directly about it at makeawill.co.uk/lpas. Or if you want to get one set up properly, with the right safeguards built in from the start, that's capacityvault.co.uk/lpa, links in bio.

So tell me. Do you think there's more to this than what's being reported? Have you ever actually checked who holds an LPA for someone in your own family? If this happened to someone you loved, would anyone actually know what to do?

1. What we know

2. Chronology

The timeline runs oldest first. Where a source gives only a month or a season, we give no more detail than the source does.

When	What was reported	Source
2024	Louise Millington-Cotes "was granted a lasting power of attorney"	[5]
October 2024	Last public appearance: a pre-recorded video to a Royal Geographical Society event	[2]
July 2025	His sister-in-law, Arabella Pepper, says she saw him after admitting herself to the care home where she had been told he was staying	[1]
Early 2026	Seven weeks in a care home in Wales, then a move to a home in Cheshire	[3]
January 2026	Care Inspectorate Wales finds no authorisation in place for arrangements it considered a deprivation of liberty	[10]
September 2026	The Telegraph reports concerns raised by "members of his inner circle"	[1]
25 September 2026	AFP reports his stepson's crowdfunding campaign stating "Sir Ranulph Fiennes is missing"	[2]
27 September 2026	The Telegraph reports the King tried to check on Sir Ranulph's wellbeing "but was blocked from doing so"	[7]
28 September 2026	Cheshire Police say there are "no immediate safeguarding concerns"	[4]
29 September 2026	Relatives speak to BBC Newsnight. The Office of the Public Guardian says it will not comment on a specific case	[1]
29 September 2026	Court of Protection lawyers tell the Law Gazette the coverage "highlights LPA limits"	[9]

3. What we don't know

4. What can an LPA do, and what can it not do?

An LPA lets you choose who makes decisions for you if you cannot make them yourself. The law sets out two kinds: one for your "personal welfare" and one for your "property and affairs" [13]. In everyday terms, these are the health and welfare LPA and the property and financial affairs LPA. Our guide to which type of LPA you need explains the difference.

A health and welfare attorney can only act when you lack capacity for the decision in question, or they reasonably believe you do [15].

Attorneys are not free to do as they like

Their authority is subject to the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, to your best interests, and to "any conditions or restrictions specified in the instrument" [13]. That is section 9(4) of the Mental Capacity Act 2005.

They must also ask what is in your best interests. To answer that, they must take into account the views of "anyone named by the person as someone to be consulted". The same goes for "anyone engaged in caring for the person or interested in his welfare" [11]. That is section 4(7).

An LPA cannot authorise a deprivation of liberty

The Act "does not authorise any person ("D") to deprive any other person ("P") of his liberty", except through a court order or the statutory scheme [12]. That scheme is the Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, known as DoLS.

Under DoLS, "the managing authority must request a standard authorisation" [20]. In practice the managing authority is the care home. A solicitor writing about this case makes the same point: "It is the care home that must make the application" [10].

DoLS is due to be replaced by the Liberty Protection Safeguards. That is not law yet. legislation.gov.uk still lists the change as one that has not been brought into force [12].

5. What safeguards can you build into your LPA?

We do not know what Sir Ranulph's LPA says. We are not suggesting that any step below would have changed his situation. But the reports raise a fair question for everyone: if I lose capacity, how do I make sure the people I love can still find me and see me?

As one Court of Protection lawyer put it: "A lasting power of attorney is only as effective as the people appointed to act under it" [9]. The good news is that the law lets you shape how your attorneys act.

Safeguard	What it does	Law
1. Appoint more than one attorney	No single person holds all the power. Attorneys can act "jointly", "jointly and severally", or jointly for some matters only.	s 10(4) [14]
2. Require joint decisions on the big welfare choices	You can say that a move to a new care home, or any limit on who visits you, needs all your attorneys to agree. Any one of them can still handle day-to-day matters.	s 10(4)(c) [14]
3. Name replacement attorneys	Someone you trust steps in if an attorney can no longer act.	s 10(8)(b) [14]
4. Name people your attorneys must consult	Attorneys must take into account the views of "anyone named by the person as someone to be consulted".	s 4(7)(a) [11]
5. Write binding instructions about contact and whereabouts	Your attorneys' authority is subject to "any conditions or restrictions specified in the instrument".	s 9(4)(b) [13]
6. Record your wishes about family and friends	Attorneys must consider "any relevant written statement made by him when he had capacity".	s 4(6)(a) [11]
7. Name people to be told when the LPA is registered	They hear about the LPA at registration, so they have an early chance to raise concerns.	Sch 1, para 2(1)(c) [19]
8. Consider different attorneys for money and for welfare	The two types of LPA are separate documents. Control of your finances and your care need not sit with the same person.	s 9(1) [13]

Example wording to consider

These are illustrations, not finished clauses. The Office of the Public Guardian can ask the court to remove instructions that do not work legally. The court has also said that "instructions" are not the same thing as "conditions or restrictions" [21]. Wording needs care, so get it right before the LPA is sent for registration.

• Whereabouts. "If I move to a care home, hospital or other residence, my attorneys must tell [named people] the name and address within 7 days."
• Contact. "My attorneys must not stop or limit contact between me and [named people] unless a health or social care professional involved in my care advises it is needed to prevent harm to me. My attorneys must write down the reason."
• No secrecy agreements. "My attorneys must not require anyone to sign a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement as a condition of visiting me."
• My own name. "I must be registered with any care provider under my own name."
• Consultation. "I name [names] as people to be consulted about where I live and who I see."

What can you do if things go wrong?

• Complain to the Office of the Public Guardian. Its jobs include "dealing with representations (including complaints) about the way in which a donee of a lasting power of attorney … is exercising his powers" [18]. It can also send a Court of Protection Visitor to see the person who made the LPA [18].
• Apply to the Court of Protection. The court can revoke an LPA where an attorney "has behaved, or is behaving, in a way that contravenes his authority or is not in P's best interests" [17]. It can also decide "what contact, if any, P is to have with any specified persons" [16].
• A real example. In BR v NAR (2022), family members "felt unable or unwelcome to visit P spontaneously or without tacit agreement of the applicant", who was the attorney [22]. The case ended with a professional deputy appointed [22].

Good drafting makes those routes less likely to be needed.

Make your LPA with Capacity Vault

None of us knows what the future holds. What you can do is choose who acts for you, decide how they must act, and name the people who should always be able to find you.

You can make your LPA online with us for £120 per LPA, including VAT. A solicitor checks your documents before you sign. The Office of the Public Guardian then charges its own fee to register each LPA. Our lasting power of attorney page explains how it works.

Make your LPA

This article is for general information and is not legal advice. It reflects the sources available on 8 October 2026. If you are worried about an LPA, please get in touch for advice on your own situation.

Sources

All sources opened and read on 8 October 2026.

1. Sir Ranulph Fiennes' relatives tell BBC it's 'very painful' not being able to visit him, 29 September 2026, on BBC News
2. Concerns over 'missing' UK explorer Ranulph Fiennes (AFP), 25 September 2026, on France 24
3. Sir Ranulph Fiennes was 'kept in series of care homes illegally' by wife 'under false name', 25 September 2026, on LBC
4. Sir Ranulph Fiennes receiving 'appropriate care', police confirm, 28 September 2026, on LBC
5. Family and friends of Sir Ranulph Fiennes say they don't know where he is, 29 September 2026, on LBC
6. Ranulph Fiennes' stepson appeals for funds to 'locate and safeguard' the explorer (The Guardian), 29 September 2026, on the Irish Examiner
7. Sir Ranulph Fiennes care row, 29 September 2026, on IBTimes UK
8. Leave Ranulph Fiennes alone, Kathleen Stock, October 2026, on UnHerd
9. Sir Ranulph Fiennes care coverage highlights LPA limits, say Court of Protection lawyers, 29 September 2026, on the Law Gazette
10. Sir Ranulph Fiennes and the legal safeguards for people receiving care, 1 October 2026, on Coodes Solicitors
11. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 4 on legislation.gov.uk
12. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 4A on legislation.gov.uk
13. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 9 on legislation.gov.uk
14. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 10 on legislation.gov.uk
15. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 11 on legislation.gov.uk
16. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 17 on legislation.gov.uk
17. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 22 on legislation.gov.uk
18. Mental Capacity Act 2005, section 58 on legislation.gov.uk
19. Mental Capacity Act 2005, Schedule 1 on legislation.gov.uk
20. Mental Capacity Act 2005, Schedule A1, Part 4 on legislation.gov.uk
21. The Public Guardian's Severance Applications [2017] EWCOP 10, at [46], on Find Case Law
22. BR v NAR & Ors [2022] EWCOP 57, at [5] and [119], on Find Case Law