British Royal Family Member Lord Ivar Mountbatten Comes Out Gay
- By
- On Top Magazine Staff
- | September 19, 2016
In an interview Sunday with the UK's Mail on Sunday, Lord Ivar Mountbatten became the first member of the British royal family to come out gay.
Lord Ivar, 53, is a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II.
He has three daughters with his ex-wife Penny and said that he struggled with his sexuality. He said that Penny knew that he was bisexual when they married in 1994.
“'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,” he told the paper. “I have struggled with my sexuality and in some ways I still do; it has been a real journey to reach this point.”
Last year, four years after his divorce, he met his partner, James Coyle, a 54-year-old airline cabin services director. Coyle said that he too has struggled with his sexuality.
“I was driven into the closet by not wanting to come to terms with who I was and facing friends and family in the early years,” Coyle said. “I buried it. I even had girlfriends as I tried to work out what I wanted to be. It was not an easy time in my teens or 20s. I'm just so pleased now to have found someone who I am happy to call my partner. My work involves a lot of travel. For the first time I have had someone to come home to.”