Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of the Queen, is the first member of the British royal family to come out as gay

LORD Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has become the first member of the British royal family to come out as gay.

Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has become the first member of the British royal family to come out as gay. Picture: Lichfield/Getty Images

LORD Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth, has become the first member of the British royal family to come out as gay.

Mountbatten, who has three children with ex-wife Penelope Thompson, said that he had struggled with his sexuality but was happy to now be in a partnership with James Coyle, an airline cabin services director, whom he met in Verbier, Switzerland, last March.

“Being a Mountbatten was never the problem, it was the generation into which I was born,” he told The Mail on Sunday newspaper in the UK.

“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.”

He added: “‘Coming out’ is such a funny phrase but it’s what I suppose I did in a rather roundabout way, emerging to a place I’m happy to be.

“I have struggled with my sexuality and in some ways I still do; it has been a real journey to reach this point.”

Lord Ivar Mountbatten (back row, left) is pictured with the Queen and Prince Phillip at Prince Edward and Countess of Wessex’s child’s christening. Picture: Lichfield/Getty Images

Lord Ivar Mountbatten, the son of the 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven and godfather to Prince Edward’s eldest child, is the most senior aristocrat of his generation — and the first in the Queen’s extended family — to come out as gay.

“Penny was aware before we got married. I told her I was bisexual, that my attraction went both ways. She was understanding and I will always be grateful to her,” said Mountbatten, who is the great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria, told The Mail on Sunday newspaper.

“We had a lot of fun, we have three fabulous daughters and I don’t regret any stage of my life.

“Ultimately, Penny did not feel sufficiently loved and she wanted more from a husband than she could get from me. Given my sexuality, I was quite surprised she married me in the first place. It was brave.

“Perhaps she thought she could change me but in the end she realised she couldn’t.”

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Originally published as Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of the Queen, is the first member of the British royal family to come out as gay