Lord Ivar Mountbatten and his fiancé James Coyle will marry this summer.
In September of 2016, the Queen’s cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, came out as gay. And he recently announced his upcoming wedding.
In an interview with the Mail on Sunday following coming out, Lord Mountbatten openly discussed his relationship with his now fiancé James Coyle, an airline cabin services director.
“Being a Mountbatten was never the problem,” he told the newspaper, “It was the generation into which I was born. When I was growing up, it was known as ‘the love that dare not speak its name,’ but what’s amazing now is how far we have all come in terms of acceptance.”
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Talking with the MailOnline, Lord Mountbatten said: “All my good friends have accepted James. I basically told everyone: ‘I’ve found somebody — it’s a bloke.’ They just started laughing. Then they met James and one particular mate said: ‘If I were gay, I’d certainly go for him.’”
Lord Mountbatten also reported that the Royal Family had given him their full blessing. The wedding will take place this summer at Lord Mountbatten’s private chapel on his property in Devon.
Lord Mountbatten also confirmed that he was pushing Coyle for marriage. “‘I really wanted to do it for James. He hasn’t been married,” he stated.
He continued, saying: “‘For me, what’s interesting is I don’t need to get married because I’ve been there, done that and have my wonderful children; but I’m pushing it because I think it’s important for him.”
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Before coming out, Lord Mountbatten was married to Penny Thompson, but the former couple divorced in 2011. Nevertheless, Thompson is set to walk Lord Mountbatten down the aisle.
“It makes me feel quite emotional. I’m really very touched,” Thompson said. She also explained how she and Coyle became friends within “ten seconds” of meeting each other.
Thompson continued: “What I don’t think Ivar realizes is how much he has changed as a man since he came out. James is hugely responsible for that because he’s so much fun. Ivar is so much more relaxed these days. He’s so much kinder. He’s become a great cook. I now call him Fanny Cradock.”
“He probably wasn’t even aware that by keeping his sexuality a secret it was really quite tormenting him. Now it’s out he’s a completely different person. Everybody says they’ve never seen him happier.”
