Sir Ranulph Fiennes: Family says explorer is being kept from them as police back care arrangements

British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has not been seen in public for close to two years, and relatives say they have been unable to visit or even contact him for months. His former sister-in-law told the BBC she does not know where he lives and that nobody has been able to go and see him, in a case that has grown from a private family dispute into a public appeal for legal help.

The family alleges that Sir Ranulph, 82, has been placed in a series of care homes while registered under assumed names, a claim that is said to have grown out of a rift involving his second wife, Louise Millington-Cotes. Ms Millington-Cotes has not responded to the allegations, nor to the BBC's request for comment, and those close to Sir Ranulph have described a prolonged and frustrating search for someone whose public profile was once defined by relentless visibility and physical adventure.

Cheshire Police said they are aware of the concerns and are satisfied that Sir Ranulph is living in an appropriate setting with suitable care. Officers added that there were "no immediate safeguarding concerns", a statement that underscores the gap between the official view — that the famed explorer is being properly looked after — and the family's view, that he has been effectively hidden from those who care about him.

The timeline is central to the story. Sir Ranulph stopped appearing in public roughly two years ago, only months after speaking openly about a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. The neurological condition affects movement, balance and speech, and its disclosure to the public invited an outpouring of affection from admirers who had followed his career for decades. It also coincided, almost exactly, with a withdrawal from the public eye that the family now describes as complete.

Sir Ranulph's absence is all the more striking because of what he achieved. In the early 1980s he became the first person to reach both the North and South Poles by surface travel rather than by air, an accomplishment that required years of planning, gruelling sledging journeys and reliance on teams of supporters. The Guinness Book of Records has described him as "the world's greatest living explorer", a title that has long been reinforced by a stream of expeditions, books, television appearances and public appearances — among them a photograph taken in Falmouth, England, in March 2022.

His stepson, Alex Millington-Cotes, has been among the most vocal campaigners. Speaking to Newsnight, he said he wanted the power of attorney currently held by his mother to be "removed from my own mother" and placed in the hands of people who "have fully his best interests in mind". The dispute over that single legal instrument is at the heart of the family's case: whoever holds a power of attorney controls decisions about an individual's care, and a challenge to it is typically routed through the courts rather than resolved by a family argument.

Mr Millington-Cotes also emphasised the human cost of the situation. "He's not an isolated type of person, and so to see him isolated now is very painful," he said. Last week he launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for legal fees, with the stated aim of being able to "locate and safeguard" the explorer. He wrote that the fundraiser had been created as "a result of our concern and desperation" after the family had tried "multiple avenues" to track down Sir Ranulph.

The campaign has the backing of Arabella Pepper, the younger sister of Sir Ranulph's late first wife, Ginny. She told Newsnight that she had not been able to see her former brother-in-law for more than a year. "All his friends and family want to see him and take him Toblerones and cheer him up, but we don't know where is, and he's not available, he's not accessible - that's what worries us," she said. Her account gives a picture of a man cut off from an affectionate network of former colleagues, friends and in-laws.

Ms Pepper described the limited contact she has managed to achieve. She alleges that she was only able to see Sir Ranulph in July 2025 after admitting herself to the care home where she had been told he was staying. She said: "The first thing I said to him, apart from the usual greetings, was that everybody was worried about him, was looking for him, was longing to see him." She recalled that the relief on his face was obvious, and that he asked her to send his love to everyone and tell them he was longing to see them.

If the allegation about assumed names is accurate, it would help explain the family's account of a months-long search: a person admitted to a home without their real identity on the paperwork can be extremely difficult for relatives to locate, particularly if the moves have been organised by someone holding legal authority over their care. Care providers in England are regulated and subject to inspection, a fact that has prompted suggestions that the register of residents could in principle be checked by an authorised party.

Questions about the dispute are likely to centre on Sir Ranulph's own wishes and capacity at the time key decisions were taken, and on whether the arrangements now in place are ones he would have chosen. The family's immediate aim is narrower and more concrete — establishing where he is, seeing him, and confirming that he is safe and well — before any larger legal battle over authority can begin.

For now, the position remains unresolved. Police have declined to take further action, saying they are satisfied with the care in place, while Ms Millington-Cotes has not commented on the claims made against her. What began as a private estrangement has become a public campaign, and friends of Sir Ranulph say the only outcome they want is the simplest one: to be able to visit him again, and to hear his voice.