Gay Cousin of Queen Elizabeth Finds It ‘Quite Odd’ to Have a Husband

Though Lord Ivar Mountbatten has been married for a year now, he still finds it "quite odd" to have a husband. To celebrate the anniversary of his union to James Coyle, which was the first of its kind for the extended British Royal family, Mountbatten sat down with the UK magazine Tatler to open up about his gay marriage and how it reflects on the royal family.

"I just find it quite odd," he told the glossy of being married to a man. "I suppose I'm quite traditional."

Mountbatten is related to both Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, being the Queen's third cousin once removed and Prince Phillip's first cousin once removed, through his father David Mountbatten.

In 2016 he opened up about his relationship with James Coyle, an airline cabin services director. His coming out was a historic first for the family. Coyle and Mountbatten married in 2018 in a private ceremony on Ivar's estate of Bridwell Park, in another first. The royal was previously married to Penny Thompson and has 3 daughters from the marriage.

"I think they like having another man in the house," Mountbatten told Tatler of his relationship with his daughters. He remains close with Lady Penny and struggled with his sexuality throughout their 16-year marriage. "Better than a stepmother who could have turned out to be a step-monster." James has no children of his own which he says was a great sadness of being gay, "So this is the icing on the cake. I've got a husband and a ready-made family."

"When I mentioned it to Ella [Ivar's eldest daughter] she was very cool about it," he told the magazine. "All her friends go on weekends where they snog each other, boy or girl, then go back and tell each other. I think that generation are just totally unfazed by it all."

Since coming out Lady Penny says that Mountbatten has become a much better version of himself. "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," she said. "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," Penny continued.

"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," she told the Daily Mail.

That said, his orientation isn't something the royal family often discusses.

"They don't really talk about it," he told Tatler. "I mean, the royals, they don't communicate very well."

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