Sir Ranulph Fiennes drew up a secret will at Everest base camp after a major crisis in his marriage, it was claimed last night.
asserted
it → draw → marriage
Michael Kobold, a friend of the explorer for 30 years, told The Mail on Sunday that Sir Ranulph wrote the document by hand in his tent the night before an unsuccessful bid to reach Everest's 29,000ft summit.
asserted
Ranulph → tell → summit
Sir Ranulph gave the sealed will to Mr Kobold, who still has it, in May 2008 with the instruction to open it in the event of his death.
uncertain
who → give → death
In an exclusive interview, Mr Kobold, a German watch entrepreneur who lives in Switzerland, said that two months earlier, just before leaving the UK for Nepal, Sir Ranulph decided to divorce his second wife, Louise Millington-Cotes.
asserted
Ranulph → live → wife
Sir Ranulph even asked Mr Kobold to find a law firm and public relations expert to handle the proceedings.
asserted
Ranulph → ask → proceedings
But it is claimed Mrs Millington-Cotes discovered the plan and a 'much deflated' Sir Ranulph changed his mind after she confronted him at their farm on Exmoor, Somerset.
asserted
she → claim → Exmoor
Mr Kobold said last night: 'I don't know what's in the will and I promised Ran I wouldn't open it until he died.
'
asserted
he → say → it
I get emotional thinking about it because it was a difficult time for all of us.
asserted
it → get → us
Sir Ranulph Fiennes with Michael Kobold training for ascent of Mount Everest in Zermatt, Switzerland, in 2008
Sir Ranulph pictured with Louise Millington-Cotes who vetoed his plans to divorce her, it has been claimed
'
asserted
it → train → her
I was there when he wrote it longhand.
asserted
he → write → it
I was there when he signed it.
asserted
he → sign → it
Probably the darkest time, up until then, because he felt trapped.'
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he → feel → ?
The extraordinary claim follows a storm of speculation about the whereabouts of the world's greatest living explorer, who was last seen in public two years ago.
uncertain
who → follow → public
Sir Ranulph, 82, who has Parkinson's disease, is said to have been shunted around a succession of care homes in London, Wales and Cheshire by Mrs Millington-Cotes, with his identity concealed under an alias, stopping his friends seeing him.
asserted
friends → have → him
Mrs Millington-Cotes, a horse trainer from Cheshire, married Sir Ranulph in 2005 following the death of his first wife, Ginny, the previous year.
asserted
Cotes → marry → wife
At one home, in London, she reportedly made visitors sign non-disclosure agreements, and at another, in Wales, where he was registered as Robert Millington, she allegedly gave instructions for him not to socialise with other residents.
uncertain
him → make → residents
Following an outcry from friends, who have called on the police and Office of the Public Guardian to investigate, Sir Ranulph is now believed to be back home at his isolated farm in Shropshire, which is hidden by a 6ft security gate.
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which → follow → gate
Mr Kobold, who is publishing a book on Sir Ranulph's disappearance, stayed with the explorer and his wife for several weeks in 2008 and says he was appalled at the way that Mrs Millington-Cotes treated his friend.
asserted
Cotes → publish → friend
'Louise subjected Ran to a ceaseless barrage of attacks, always humiliating him in front of me and other people.
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Louise → subject → me
It was heartbreaking,' he said.
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he → say → ?
Michael Kobold (pictured right) claimed Sir Ranolph wrote the document by hand in his tent the night before attempting to scale Mount Everest
A frail Sir Ranulph, 82, walks with a frame in what looks like a stable or barn with his wife at his side directing him
'
asserted
wife → picture → him
I'll never forget the first night.
asserted
I → forget → night
I went to sleep feeling awful for Ran and was very sad.
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I → go → Ran
The next morning I woke up and thought that today things will be better.
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things → wake → ?
'The only time we had any peace from her was when we went on runs, which perhaps explains why they always took so long [two to three hours].'
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they → have → runs
Mr Kobold claims that Sir Ranulph told him of an incident in which Mrs Millington-Cotes took his passport and locked him out of the house where they were living in Cheshire.
uncertain
they → claim → Cheshire
Sir Ranulph is said to have been injured as he attempted to climb back in through a bathroom window.
asserted
he → say → window
Mr Kobold claims that over several weeks, during which he was acting as Sir Ranulph's de facto chauffeur, he persuaded the explorer to divorce his wife.
'This was a firm decision and because Ran did not know how the mechanism works I was asked to basically organise everything around the divorce and manage it for him.'
uncertain
I → claim → him
Mr Kobold said he met a law firm in London and spoke over the phone to a PR specialist, because Sir Ranulph feared the divorce would 'get ugly' and he didn't want to 'be the next Paul McCartney' – a reference to the acrimonious split of Sir Paul McCartney and his second wife, Heather Mills.
asserted
he → say → McCartney
Sir Ranulph and Mr Kobold were due to discuss the plan at the explorer's office at Greenlands, his farm on Exmoor.
asserted
Ranulph → discuss → Exmoor
But to Mr Kobold's surprise, Mrs Millington-Cotes arrived and insisted on talking to her husband alone.
asserted
Cotes → arrive → husband
'She shows up, kicks me out, slams the door shut and spends ten minutes with Ran,' Mr Kobold said.
'
asserted
Kobold → show → Ran
Afterwards he says, 'Mike, I've got bad news.
asserted
I → say → news
Unfortunately I'm unable to move forward with the divorce.
asserted
I → move → divorce
Days later, after Mr Kobold arranged a new passport, Sir Ranulph flew to Nepal for his second attempt at climbing Everest.
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Ranulph → arrange → Everest
Mr Kobold, who joined him at base camp, had previously seen a copy of the explorer's will and does not know why he wrote a new document on the eve of launching his climb.
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he → join → climb
'At base camp, for whatever reason, he created a new will.
asserted
he → create → will
Something must have come into his mind.
asserted
Something → come → mind
I just remember we were sitting in his tent and he wrote it out longhand and he signed it and he gave it to me.'
asserted
he → remember → me
The legal status of the document is unclear because under English law, wills have to be signed by two witnesses.
uncertain
wills → have → witnesses
…and 3 more, not listed.
The Aporia
