Lord Ivar Mountbatten lived up to his name by finding a way to bring up Meghan Markle and Prince Harry during his first scene on season 3 of The Traitors.
During the premiere, which was released on Thursday, January 9, Ivar, 61, was asked what made him a public figure. “I was born with a very nice last name. Mountbatten,” he noted. “It is one of the royal family’s surnames.”
Ivar noted the connection to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, adding, “Harry and Meghan’s children are called Mountbatten-Windsor. [King Charles III] is my second cousin.”
The British aristocrat recalled making headlines that put him into the spotlight.
How Is The Traitors’ Lord Ivar Mountbatten Related to the Royal Family?
“I was married for 17 years to a woman and I had three kids,” he said about his ex-wife, Penny Mountbatten. “Then we parted company and I married a bloke [James Coyle]. Because I have a famous last name, it was all over the newspapers.”
Despite not being a working member of the royal family, Ivar was considered as such by his fellow contestants. Chrishell Stause said the royals need “a little queerness” in response to Ivar’s revelation about his personal life while Bob the Drag Queen called Ivar “the first gay royal.”
Ivar wasn’t always on friendly terms with the rest of the cast though. By the end of the second episode, the first group elimination almost led to Ivar being voted off. The tense conversation caused Bob the Drag Queen to explain his reason for choosing Ivar as a possible Traitor.
“If there is anyone who can keep a secret, it is a royal,” he quipped to Ivar.
Ivar’s connection to the royals is through his dad, David Mountbatten, who is the 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven. Ivar is the grandson of Prince George of Battenberg and the great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria. His father was the cousin of Prince Philip who married Queen Elizabeth II in 1947, making Ivar the first cousin once removed of Philip, a third cousin once removed of Elizabeth and Charles’ second cousin.
Biggest Royal Family Scandals Through the Years
Before joining The Traitors, Ivar opened up about how he considered Philip a father figure.
“In later years, I would sit with him and ask endless questions about my father. It was wonderful to have someone who could tell me everything about him,” Ivar, whose dad died in 1970, said to The Telegraph in April 2021. “Prince Philip was a wonderful listener; you could tell him anything as long as you were being honest and forthright. He was happy to listen to your thoughts. But if he had some advice he thought you ought to hear, he’d give it to you.”
New episodes of The Traitors are released on Peacock Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.
