Meet Lord Ivar Mountbatten, the first openly gay British royal: King Charles’ second cousin stars in Season 3 of The Traitors, but did you know his ex-wife walked him down the aisle at his second wedding?

Jun 20 , 2024

Lord Ivar Mountbatten, the first openly gay British royal. Photo: @ivar_mountbatten/Instagram

Lord Ivar Mountbatten is the first known member of the extended British royal family to be in a same-sex marriage.

A direct descendant of Queen Victoria, the 61-year-old is King Charles’ second cousin. He tied the knot with Lady Penny Mountbatten in 1994, before they split up in 2011. Seven years later, in 2018, he married airline cabin services director James Coyle at his Grade I listed home in Devon, Bridwell Park – a historic moment for the royal family.

Lord Ivar Mountbatten and his husband James Coyle. Photo: @bridwellpark/Instagram

Now, the British aristocrat is starring in the upcoming season of The Traitors – a US reality TV competition series on Peacock where contestants play a murder mystery game – alongside Britney Spears’ ex-husband Sam Asghari and Vanderpump Rules star Tom Sandoval.

Before he finds fame stateside though, he’s also located an investor for Bridwell Park at last – his magnificent country house that he’d put on the market some years ago – according to British media.

So what else do we know about the first openly gay British royal?

How is Lord Ivar Mountbatten related to the British royal family?

Lord Ivar Mountbatten (back right) with members of the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth (front second left), Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh (front left), and their son Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, and wife Sophie, Countess of Wessex (front centre), in 2004. Photo: HRH Countess of Wessex

Born on March 9, 1963, in London, Ivar is the son of Janet Mercedes Bryce and the late David Mountbatten, Third Marquess of Milford Haven. According to his website, he’s the first cousin once removed of Prince Philip and the third cousin once removed of the late Queen Elizabeth. It’s safe to say he’s close to the House of Windsor.

What does Lord Ivar Mountbatten do?

Lord Ivar Mountbatten sporting a casual summer look. Photo: @ivar_mountbatten/Instagram

Apart from living the posh and prim life of an aristocrat, Mountbatten previously worked as a geologist and director of the SCL Group, a British behavioural research and strategic communication company.

He also starred in Keeping Up with the Aristocrats in 2022, and Treasure Island with Bear Grylls in 2019, a UK Channel 4 survival-based programme. The 61-year-old called his decision to go on the show a part of his “ongoing midlife crisis”, per Channel 4.

How did Lord Ivar Mountbatten meet his husband, James Coyle?

Talk about serendipity: the pair met by accident at the Farinet bar in Verbier, a ski resort in Switzerland. Coyle shouted “hello!” across the bar, mistaking the royal for his ski instructor, per British media.

Mountbatten made headlines in 2016 when he decided to come out – but he initially wasn’t sure he’d ever want to go public even after his divorce, despite always knowing he wasn’t straight, also per British media.

Is Lord Ivar Mountbatten on good terms with his ex-wife, Lady Penny Mountbatten?

Lord Ivar Mountbatten and his now ex-wife, Lady Penny Mountbatten. Photo: @ivar_mountbatten/Instagram

In 1994, Mountbatten married philanthropist and businesswoman Penny Thompson, in a ceremony that was attended by Princess Margaret and Prince Edward. He shares three daughters with her: Ella, 28, Alix, 26, and Luli, 21. Prince Edward is Ella’s godfather, while both he and his wife Sophie are godparents to Alix.

Lord Ivar Mountbatten’s daughters, Ella, Alix and Luli Mountbatten, at Glastonbury. Photo: @ivar_mountbatten/Instagram

After their split, the former couple remain on such good terms that Penny even walked her ex-husband down the aisle at his second wedding. She said that she and Coyle got on well “from the first 10 seconds of meeting each other” and called him a “gorgeous beast”, per Daily Mail. Coyle even revealed that he and Penny go to yoga classes together.

Meanwhile, Ivar said during an interview before the wedding in 2018 that he was “never unhappy in [his and Penny’s] marriage”. He later joked that he, Coyle and Penny are “really are a funny threesome … not in that way”.

His Bridwell Park estate

Bridwell Park. Photo: @bridwellpark/Instagram

Mountbatten and Coyle live in the Bridwell Park estate, which they also rent out for weddings and events.

Bridwell Park’s Orangery Cafe. Photo: @bridwellcafe/Instagram

In 2020, the couple opened the Orangery Cafe at the property. The estate is also the venue for Queer Spirit Festival 2023, which includes DJs, workshops and group ceremonies related to queer spirituality.

Royalty

A distant relative of both Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth, 61-year-old Lord Ivar has appeared on reality TV before – in Keeping Up with the Aristocrats and Treasure Island with Bear Grylls
Mountbatten married James Coyle in 2018 at his Bridwell Park estate and his ex-wife, who’s the mother of his 3 daughters, gave him away – a move that seems very modern even beyond royal standards