The iconic socialite who famously took his pet lion for walks around central London has died aged 76.

John Rendall and his friend Anthony ‘Ace’ Bourke bought Christian the lion from Harrods in 1969, when the Knightsbridge department store used to sell exotic animals.

The trio became local celebrities in Chelsea, where Mr Rendall lived and would take the big cat for walks along the King’s Road.

They were often seen taking Christian for drives in their convertible Mercedes and even attended parties and restaurants with the lion in tow.

Christian was bought for 250 guineas and lived on a diet of steak, costing Mr Rendall a small fortune as he ate four meals a day.

Writing in the Daily Mail in 2013, Mr Rendall said he was ‘astonished’ to learn Harrods was selling exotic animals in the late 1960s.

After finding ‘the male [lion] utterly irresistible’ he decided to take him home with Mr Bourke.

‘We had the crazy idea that if we bought him, we could offer him something better than his life at a department store, even if it were only for a few months,’ he said.

But the big cat quickly outgrew Mr Rendall’s flat above his furniture store and in 1970, he was forced to give him up.

His relationship with the lion greatly affected him and sparked his path towards conservationism.

Mr Rendall initially thought about sending Christian to Longleat Wildlife Park in Wiltshire.

But after meeting the actor Bill Travers and his wife Virginia McKenna, he was convinced into sending him to Kenya, where conservationist George Adamson returned him to the wild.

Mr Rendall wrote: ‘To release Christian into the wild was a huge step, but against all expectations it was a success.

‘From the beginning, George became infatuated with him because he was such an entrancing animal. 

‘It was almost as if he didn’t have a vicious bone in his body. To help Christian’s rehabilitation, George created a pride around him, headed by Boy, one of the lions who had been used in Born Free.’

One year after taking the lion to Kenya, Mr Rendall and Mr Bourke flew back in the hope of finding Christian had settled into his new life.

They were accompanied by cameraman Simon Trevor who captured their touching reunion.

In now-famous footage, Christian recognises the duo before excitedly bounding over to them.

Mr Rendall wrote: ‘One of the extraordinary things about the reunion is that Christian introduces us to his two lionesses.

‘They were never tame and George was amazed that they also accepted us.’

Christian disappeared into the wild in late 1973 when he was three-and-­a-half years old, and was never seen again.

He left a lasting impression on Mr Rendall who regularly visited Africa throughout his life.

During his lifetime, Mr Rendall married twice, initially to TV personality Liz Brewer with whom he had a daughter, Tallulah, and then to his second wife Melanie, with whom he had two sons.

He was found dead at home on Sunday, January 23.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at [email protected].

For more stories like this, check our news page.

Source: Read Full Article