Who is Lord Ivar Mountbatten? King Charles' cousin starring in the Traitors US

Independent

29-01-2025

'If there's anyone who can keep a secret, it's a royal.'
That is the assumption Lord Ivar Mountbatten was met with after he arrived at a grand Scottish castle to play a game of lies and deception with a star-studded line up.
The King's second cousin, 61, has joined the cast of The Traitors US, in which a group of chaotically comprised celebrities gathered to play the game which has taken UK viewers by storm.
A direct descendent of Queen Victoria, fans can watch the British aristocrat try to beat the likes of real housewives, Selling Sunset stars and Zac Efron's brother to win his share of the $250,000 (£200,000) prize pot.
His royal connections piqued an interest from his fellow players early on in the game after he shared his family history and his experience of being the first openly gay royal.
Born in 1963 to David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford and Janet Mercedes Bryce, he is the great-great-great grandson of Queen Victoria and a second cousin to King Charles III.
His surname was shared by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's children, Archie,5, and Lilibet, 3, before Harry and Meghan made the decision to change their last names to Sussex.
Like his cousin, Lord Ivar attended Gordonstoun School in Moray, Scotland, which was infamously portrayed as 'absolute hell' in the Netflix series The Crown.
After losing his father at aged 7, the aristocrat went on to study at Middlebury College in Vermont and went on to work as a geologist.
In 1991, he wed Penelope Anne Vere Thompson, whom he went on to share three daughters with.
Their two eldest children are the godchildren of Prince Edward and Sophie, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, with Edward and his sister Princess Margaret have been attendees at the couple's wedding.
In 2010, the couple split with the amicable divorce being finalised in 2011 after 17 years of marriage and in 2016 the lord became the first member of the British royal family to come out as openly gay after his relationship with James Coyle, an airline cabin services director was revealed.
The pair later wed on September 18 2022, making him the first royal to be in a same-sex marriage, in a small ceremony attended by his ex-wife and three daughters on the grounds of their family seat in Devon, Bridwell estate.
In April last year, he sold the Grade I listed house on the market for £5.5m, after moving in in 1997.
Lord Ivar's participation in The Traitors US is not his first endeavour on the small screen. In 2019 he appeared on Channel 4's Bear Grylls' Treasure Island and also appeared on Keeping up with the Aristocrats in 2022.
During his stint on Bear Grylls' Treasure Island he said Prince Phillip had become 'like my father' after he lost his own at an early age.