Alex Millington-Cotes, stepson of 82-year-old explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, claims his stepfather’s second wife, Louise, has exerted a controlling influence over him and Sir Ranulph for more than two decades. Millington-Cotes launched a GoFundMe page to finance legal action aimed at ensuring Sir Ranulph's free will and access to public spaces after reports emerged that he had been given a false name and moved between care homes without his consent. Friends and associates corroborate the claim, suggesting Sir Ranulph’s ability to leave Louise for extended periods has been severely restricted.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-26,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
- Alex Millington-Cotes’s GoFundMe page can be found here
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page → find → ?
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The stepson of Sir Ranulph Fiennes on Saturday accused the explorer's second wife of 'exerting a controlling influence' over him for more than two decades.
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stepson → see → decades
Alex Millington-Cotes believes his mother, Louise, 'dominated' the relationship from the very start of their marriage – barely a year after Sir Ranulph's first wife died.
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wife → believe → marriage
Independently, other friends and a business associate told The Mail On Sunday a similar story, with one reporting that Sir Ranulph spoke of 'only ever being allowed 24 hours at a time away from her'.
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Ranulph → tell → her
In an exclusive interview, Mr Millington-Cotes told this newspaper he was determined to find his 82-year-old stepfather – who has Parkinson's and has not been seen publicly for over two years – to 'restore his free will'.
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who → tell → will
He has launched a GoFundMe page to finance legal action following reports last week that Sir Ranulph had been given a false name by his wife and moved between a series of care homes.
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Ranulph → launch → homes
Earlier this year, the Care Inspectorate reportedly concluded that he had been unlawfully deprived of his liberty.
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he → conclude → liberty
This weekend, family and friends called for an invesigation into his case.
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family → call → case
Shadow Health and Care Secretary Damian Hinds called for 'any potential failings' at the care watchdog the Office Of The Public Guardian to be 'looked into'.
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failings → call → Guardian
Mr Millington-Cotes crowdfunding page includes a photograph of him standing alongside his stepfather in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa in June 2018, their last trip away together.
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him → include → June
They last saw each other in late 2024 and last spoke on the phone 18 months ago.
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They → see → phone
Mr Millington-Cotes, 31, said: 'I believe my mother exerted a controlling influence from the very start of their marriage.
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mother → say → marriage
I was a child and I didn't understand the signs at the time.
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I → understand → time
But controlling is how I would describe it.
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I → describe → it
His friends have confirmed how much he changed.
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he → confirm → ?
'My own relationship with her has been difficult for a very long time, longer than I can remember.
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I → remember → time
I've obviously got my father and I've got Ran and it has been complicated.
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it → get → Ran
Ranulph Fiennes is pictured exploring in Antarctica in 1996.
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Fiennes → picture → 1996
His stepson is determined to find the 82-year-old
Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes and his wife Lady Louise, after returning to Britain following a failed attempt to climb Everest
Sir Ranulph Fiennes with his stepson Alex Millington at the leaning tower of Pisa in Italy in June 2018
'
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stepson → find → June
The divide came in 2018 when she started being quite unpleasant to me, directly and indirectly, including behind my back.
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she → come → back
There's now no way for me to really contact my mother.
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me → be → mother
She has kept my phone number and Facebook page blocked on and off since 2018.
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number → keep → 2018
She kicked me out.
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She → kick → me
It has been tougher than words can say.
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words → say → ?
Sir Ranulph's life reads like something out of Boys' Own fiction.
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life → read → fiction
The former soldier, a demolitions expert in the SAS, became the first man to reach both North and South Poles on foot and was first to cross Antarctica on foot.
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soldier → become → foot
Often described as the world's greatest living explorer, his extraordinary willpower once drove him to run seven marathons in seven days across seven continents.
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willpower → describe → continents
Despite having a double heart bypass in 2003, and a heart attack two years later, he climbed Everest in 2009, aged 65.
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he → have → 2009
Mr Millington-Cotes was ten when his mother, then 38, married Sir Ranulph, who is 23 years her senior in 2005.
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who → marry → 2005
For a while they lived at Greenlands, the rambling hill farm he had shared with first wife Ginny, two miles outside the Exmoor village of Exford.
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he → live → Exford
Tucked into the fold of a remote valley, the property was sold to a land investment company in 2007.
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property → tuck → 2007
The couple later moved to Shropshire where Mrs Millington-Cotes bred horses.
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Cotes → move → horses
However, Sir Ranulph retained rights of access to his old home and would pay fleeting visits.
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Ranulph → retain → visits
In 2015, he agreed to meet a business associate there to discuss a project involving use of his personal photographs.
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he → agree → photographs
The man, who has asked not to be named, told The Mail On Sunday that although Sir Ranulph was enthusiastic about the meeting, he was obsessed with leaving on time for the long drive back to Cheshire where Mrs Millington-Cotes was waiting.
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Cotes → ask → Cheshire
Ranulph Fiennes is pictured in a snow hut in Antarctica in 1979
King Charles is seen here meeting the explorer in London in 2012 as they share a joke at The Coldest Journey launch on board the SA Agulhas, the ship for Sir Ranulph's polar expedition to be the first to cross Antarctica in winter
'
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expedition → picture → winter
It was bizarre,' the man recalled.
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man → recall → ?
'I arrived mid-afternoon to look through his photos, which were all stored at the Exmoor house.
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which → arrive → house
He immediately told me he hoped our discussions weren't going to take long.
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discussions → tell → me
He apparently needed to get away because he had to drive up to Cheshire that evening.
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he → need → Cheshire
…and 44 more, not listed.
The Aporia
