The Traitors season 3 winner Ivar Mountbatten is opening up about his rocky relationship with his mother, Janet Mercedes Bryce.
“Both my brother and myself have quite a torturous relationship with her,” Ivar, 62, said during his Monday, August 18, appearance on the “Rosebud With Gyles Brandreth” podcast. “I mean, she never looked after us. We were brought up by nannies.”
Janet, 87, and her late husband, David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, welcomed two sons throughout their marriage: Ivar and his older brother, George Mountbatten, 4th Marquess of Milford Haven. David died at age 50 in 1970 when Ivar was 7 years old. His mother never remarried.
“We had this wonderful German nanny who looked after us right from the word go,” Ivar said, reflecting on his childhood. “In fact, I went on holiday with my nanny because [she] wouldn’t refuse my mother to look after us. … She would be absolutely hopeless. So we didn’t really see her very much as youngsters.”
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Ivar said his mother’s hands-off parenting was “irritating” to him and his brother when they were growing up.
“We were always shipped off here, there and everywhere, which was fine. I’m not complaining in any way, shape or form,” he recalled. “We would often say to her, ‘Why didn’t you come down for Christmas? Why didn’t you come down for the weekend?’ Her stock answer was, ‘I can’t be bothered.’”
Ivar explained that his mother’s indifference “stemmed from the fact that she had never been able to pack her own suitcase.”
Ivar did say, however, that he never felt neglected while growing up.
“We had the most wonderful life. I always say that I’ve got nothing to complain about. I’m one of those people that just gets on with it,” he explained. “I never complain, principally because I know that I’ve had the most wonderful childhood life and I still have the most wonderful life and I’ve got nothing to complain about.”
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All these years later, Ivar’s relationship with his mother hasn’t gotten much better. He revealed that there is “no” affection between them now, which has been exacerbated by the fact that Janet has been bedridden since 2018.
Ivar explained that his mother had a hip replacement and “refused” to do “all the remedial work” following the surgery because it was “too painful” for her.
“It’s laziness,” he added. “That sort of irritated my brother and myself. So we’ve ended up having to do everything for her.”
Ivar admitted that he’s “often” thought about his overall relationship with his mother.
“When she finally goes, will I be sad?” he wondered. “I suppose, yes, I will be sad.”
