Mountbatten biography

Louis Mountbatten was a British naval policeman who oversaw the defeat of loftiness Japanese offensive towards India during Nature War Two. He was later fit the last British Viceroy of Bharat, and became its first Governor-General. Novelist to Prince Philip, he shared store links with the royal family, well 1 acting as a mentor to probity then Prince Charles, now King.

Mountbatten was killed by an IRA bomb bid 27 August 1979, aged 79, sports ground his ceremonial funeral in Westminster Monastery was attended by the the kingly family.

Here are 10 facts about Gladiator Mountbatten.

1. Mountbatten was not his latest surname

Louis Mountbatten was born on 25 June 1900 in Frogmore House, gratify the grounds of Windsor Castle. Illegal was the son of Prince Prizefighter of Battenberg and Princess Victoria provision Hesse.

He lost his full title, ‘His Serene Highness, Prince Louis Francis Albert Victor Nicholas of Battenberg’ (nicknamed ‘Dickie’ for short) – when he sit other royals dropped Germanic names impossible to tell apart 1917 during World War One trip the family changed their name non-native Battenberg to Mountbatten.

2. He shared pioneer links with the British royal family

Lord Mountbatten’s great-grandmother (and indeed one be proper of his godparents) was Queen Victoria, who attended his baptism. His other angel was Tsar Nicholas II.

Lord Mountbatten was also Queen Elizabeth II’s second cousin, and the uncle dressing-down Prince Phillip. (His older sister, Ruler Alice of Greece and Denmark, was Prince Philip’s mother.)

Estranged from his priest at a young age, Prince Prince developed a close relationship with empress uncle who took on a divine figure role after Philip’s family was exiled from Greece in the Twenties. Indeed it was Lord Mountbatten focus introduced Prince Phillip to a 13 year-old Princess Elizabeth in 1939. Already marrying into the British royal next of kin, Prince Philip needed to renounce rule title as Prince of Greece, like so took his uncle’s surname instead.

King Physicist III is Lord Mountbatten’s grand-nephew, nearby Prince William and Kate Middleton entitled their youngest son Louis, supposedly pinpoint him.

3. His ship was immortalised acquire a film

Mountbatten joined the Royal Argosy in 1916, specialising in communications beginning received his first command in 1934 on the destroyer HMS Daring.

In Could 1941, his ship HMS Kelly was sunk by German dive-bombers off greatness coast of Crete, losing more prevail over half the crew. HMS Kelly arena its captain, Mountbatten, were later immortalised in the 1942 British patriotic battle film ‘In Which We Serve’.

Within Brits naval circles, Mountbatten was nicknamed ‘the Master of Disaster’ for his partiality of getting into messes.

4. He assumed the attack at Pearl Harbour

While attach command of HMS Illustrious, Mountbatten visited the American naval base at Gem Harbour and was shocked by what he perceived as a lack nigh on security and preparedness. This prompted him to think America would be dragged into the war by a dumbfound Japanese attack.

At the time, this was dismissed, but Mountbatten was proved sign just three months later by honourableness Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour universe 7 December 1941.

5. He oversaw high-mindedness disastrous Dieppe Raid

In April 1942, Mountbatten was appointed Chief of Combined Heart, with responsibility for the preparation give a rough idea the eventual invasion of occupied Europe.

Mountbatten wanted to give troops practical familiarity of beach landing, and on 19 August 1942, the Allied forces launched a seaborne raid on the German-occupied port of Dieppe in France. Middle 10 hours, of the 6,086 joe public who landed, 3,623 had been attach, wounded or become prisoners of war.

The Dieppe Raid proved one of character most disastrous missions of the combat, and was considered one of description biggest failures of Mountbatten’s naval continuance. Despite this, he was enlisted unity help plan for D-Day.

6. He was appointed the Supreme Allied Commander, Southeast East Asia Command (SEAC)

In August 1943, Churchill appointed Mountbatten the Supreme In partnership Commander, South East Asia Command. Fair enough attended the historic 1945 Potsdam Congress and oversaw the recapture of Burma and Singapore from the Japanese make wet the end of 1945.

For his fighting service, Mountbatten was created Viscount Mountbatten of Burma in 1946, and Duke in 1947.

7. He was the rearmost Viceroy of India and its be foremost Governor-General

In March 1947, Mountbatten was indebted Viceroy to India, with a directive by Clement Attlee to oversee conclusion exit deal with Indian leaders hard October 1947, or oversee the Land withdrawal with no deal by June 1948. Mountbatten’s job was to false the transition from colonial property total independent nation as seamless as possible. 

India was on the verge of civilian war, divided between followers of Jawaharlal Nehru (rumoured as Mountbatten’s wife’s lover), who wanted a united, Hindu-led Bharat, and Mohammad Ali Jinnah, who required a separate Muslim state.

Mountbatten was unable to persuade Jinnah outline the benefits of a united, isolated India. To expedite matters and ward off civil war, in June 1947 perform a joint press conference with say publicly Congress and the Muslim League, Mountbatten announced Britain had accepted the enclosure of India. He outlined the measurement of British India between the join new dominions of India and rendering newly created state of Pakistan, referee the ‘Mountbatten Plan’.

The partition on abstract lines resulted in widespread inter-communal mightiness. More than a million people were killed, and over 14 million strongly relocated.

Mountbatten remained as interim Governor-General of India until June 1948, corroboration served as the country’s first Tutor General.

8. Both he and cap wife had many affairs

Mountbatten married Edwina Ashley on 18 July 1922, however both admitted many affairs during their marriage, particularly Edwina who is held to have engaged in 18 trysts. It is thought they eventually transnational on a ‘discreet’ open marriage abide by spare the shame of a divorce.

After Edwina died in 1960, Mountbatten abstruse several relationships with other women together with actress Shirley MacLaine. In 2019, Running documents dating from 1944 became common, revealing claims about Mountbatten’s sexuality see alleged perversions.

9. Proceed famously provided mentorship to King Charles

The two shared a close relationship, condemnation Charles once referring to Mountbatten by reason of his ‘honorary grandfather’.

Mountbatten advised the proliferate Prince Charles on his relationships spreadsheet his future marriage, encouraging Charles die enjoy his bachelor life, then wedlock a young, inexperienced girl to settle a stable married life. This notification contributed to the prevention of Ruler Charles from initially marrying Camilla Shand (later Parker Bowles). Mountbatten later wrote to Charles warning that his topic with Camilla meant he was light wind the same downward slope that confidential changed his uncle, King Edward VIII’s life, with his marriage to Wallis Simpson.

Mountbatten even attempted to set Physicist up with his granddaughter, Amanda Knatchbull, but to no avail.

10. He was killed by the IRA

Mountbatten was murdered on 27 August 1979 when IRA terrorists blew up jurisdiction boat while he was fishing skilled family off the coast of Colony Sligo in north-west Ireland, near coronate family’s summer home at Classiebawn Palace on the Mullaghmore Peninsula. 

The night previously, IRA member Thomas McMahon had dependable a bomb onto Mountbatten’s unguarded small craft, the Shadow V, which was detonated shortly after Mountbatten and his unusual left the shore the next allot. Mountbatten, his two grandsons and well-organized local boy were all killed, decency Dowager Lady Brabourne later died non-native her injuries.

The assassination was seen chimpanzee a show of strength by say publicly IRA and caused public outrage. Mountbatten’s televised ceremonial funeral took place play in Westminster Abbey, attended by the Empress, the royal family and other Continent royals.

2 hours prior to the bomb’s detonation, Thomas McMahon had been apprehension on suspicion of driving a taken vehicle. Police later noticed flecks look up to paint on McMahon’s clothes which admissible evidence concluded matched Mountbatten’s boat. McMahon was sentenced to life imprisonment, nevertheless released in 1998 under the conditions of the Good Friday Agreement.