It finally seems as though all the pomp and circumstance behind the royal wedding is beginning to die down. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are now happily married, and it appears the paparazzi is leaving them be for the time being. The event itself was spectacularly lavish and well-publicised, and the ceremony at St George's Chapel in Windsor Castle was attended by a number of high-profile guests.
However, you might not know that another member of the (extended) royal family has just emerged, and although he might not be as much as a dreamboat as the dashing Harry, his upcoming nuptials are arguably even more important and historic. Why? Because this particular wedding will be a same-sex wedding. That's right, the royal family is about to experience the first gay marriage in the long history of its lineage.
It has emerged that Queen Elizabeth's third cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, is to be the first male individual in the extended royal family to legally marry another man. Lord Ivar is set to marry his long-term partner, James Coyle. It has also emerged that he is to be given away by his ex-wife Penny Anne Vere Thompson, whom he married in 1994 and separated from in 2011. Coyle is an airline cabin services director whom Lord Mountbatten met while staying at a ski resort in Verbier, south-west Switzerland.
In a recent interview with British newspaper The Daily Mail, Lord Mountbatten stated: "I really wanted to do it for James. He hasn't been married. For me, what's interesting is I don't need to get married because I've been there, done that and have my wonderful children; but I'm pushing it because I think it's important for him. James hasn't had the stable life I have. I want to be able to give you that."
He added: "When I mentioned it to our eldest daughter, Ella, she said, 'Oh Pap, it's not a big deal. It's so normal nowadays'. Of course that generation, they're completely cool about the concept of this ... We'll be pronounced partners in marriage, but the ceremony itself will be very small. It's just for the girls and close family and friends ... Being completely truthful, it doesn't sit comfortably with me that I'm going out with a man. I've lived my whole life as a heterosexual ... I knew from the age of eight I was more attracted to men. I definitely think it's in the genes. You're either gay or you're not."
The two men will marry at a ceremony at Lord Mountbatten's country estate in Devon, and it will not incorporate the stricter traditions associated with an aristocrat's wedding. For example, the couple has decided to dispense with the business of taking the first dance and cutting the cake together. Let me be the first to wish Lord Mountbatten congratulations on the happy news; we're so glad that he's managed to find true love.
