Earl Shaftesbury
When Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the 10th Earl of Shaftesbury, went missing from his luxury hotel in Cannes on 5 November 2004, it inspired a press frenzy that exposed a frothy mix of glamour, vice, drink, drugs and fallen aristocracy. It revealed the life of the 66-year old earl "Atty" to his friends - who held one of the most distinguished lineages in the country, but who had become an ageing, sex-obsessed adventurer, whose wayward life created passion and jealousy in his many lovers, and eventually a vicious rivalry that led to the Earls sudden death.In the weeks after he vanished, the colourful theories of what had become of the man the French press dubbed "le lord disparu", rivalled those of Lord Lucan. Had he had been mesmerised by a gang of confidence tricksters? Was it an underworld hit, a staged disappearance, or an identity theft? People speculated that the Shaftesbury family curse, that had afflicted previous Earls, had hit again.In April 2005 the French police's search for the 'Lost Earl' led to a remote ravine on the French Riviera. A skeleton and a few rags were all that remained of the flamboyant playboy, whose body had been eaten by wild animals. A murder hunt ensued.As the film unravels the mystery of who was behind the Earl's death, and delves into the deeper theme of the decline of the British aristocracy (the Earl became an emblem of the defunct hereditary peers Blair abolished in 1999). Just as the lonely aristocrat was spiralling down into self-destruction, his latest girl-friend, Jamila M'Barek, was fighting her way up, an immigrant who had become an escort girl, desperate for the money and social status the Earl could give her. They met in the no-man's land of France's vice dens, they quickly became 'Lord and Lady Shaftesbury', but their unusual marriage was destined to end in tragedy.'Who Killed The Playboy Earl?' has all the trappings of a gritty noir thriller, but it is also spiced with black humour, a vivid cast of characters, and a pair of murderers who had somehow contrived to commit the imperfect crime.