The Queen’s Cousin Has Finally Declared Himself Gay

Lord Ivar Mountbatten (left),  with boyfriend James Coyle

The 53 year old  Ivar Mountbatten has found new love and this time it is with a man, making him the first in the extended Royal Family, to come out as gay.

It is a decision which has the blessing of his ex-wife and children, his wider family and his life-long friend Prince Edward, to whose eldest child he is a godparent.

Lord Ivar Mountbatten's family name is stamped on British history. He is the great-great-great- grandson of Queen Victoria; great-nephew of Earl Mountbatten of Burma; and cousin to the Queen.

Lord Ivar's (top left) pictured with the Royal family

Photographs at his stately home show his place in Royal society: Lord Ivar on the balcony of Buckingham Palace, at Royal weddings and christenings, with an off-duty Queen aboard the Royal Yacht Britannia. In many of them, he is pictured with his former wife Penny by whom he has three daughters.

His boyfriend is James Coyle, an airline cabin services director. The pair met in Swiss resort Verbier in March last year when James shouted 'Hello!' to Ivar in a bar, mistaking him for a guide with whom he had skied. It was a chance encounter but the attraction was immediate and mutual.

Lord Ivar with his former wife Penny by whom he has three daughters

Lord Ivar married Penny in 1994. He had known from his teens that he was bisexual but reveals: 'I just did not want to go there because there would have been so much grief. 'I never thought I would get married because I didn't want to be untruthful. Penny was aware before we got married. I told her I was bisexual, that my attraction went both ways. She understood and I will always be grateful to her. 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 realized she couldn't.

According to Mail online, The couple divorced in 2011, letting it is known they had drifted apart. Ivar had a secret gay fling in 2014 but was not ready to admit his true sexuality, even to himself. That was until he met James in Verbier during après-ski drinks.