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Crown season four opens not only with a brand new British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, but also with a shocking assassination that shocks the royal family to the core and raises questions about both past and present royal father-son relationships.
Lord Mountbatten (played by Charles Dance in The Crown cast) was murdered during the August 1979 holiday, and in the Netflix biopic, his death proved a devastating blow to his great-grandson and “honorary grandson,” Prince Charles.
But who was the real Lord Mountbatten and who was responsible for his murder?
Who was Lord Mountbatten?
Louis Mountbatten, 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, described in a contemporary obituary as “the last of [Britain’s] storybook heroes, “he was a distinguished British naval officer and uncle (and substitute for the father figure) of Prince Philip. He was also distantly related to Queen Elizabeth II.
Chief of the Defense Staff during the early 1960s, he was both an experienced military man and a statesman; was a commander in World War II and became the last viceroy of India in 1947 (and the first governor general of India after independence). He later also served as First Lord of the Sea and later as Admiral of the Fleet, in the United Kingdom.
Crown’s third season depicted Mountbatten considering the possibility of conducting a coup against Harold Wilson’s government in the late 1960s, a move that would see an unelected government take power with Mountbatten in the lead.
In the second season of The Crown, his open and unconventional relationship with his wife, Lady Edwina Ashley Mountbatten, was hinted at when the queen asked him for advice regarding her marriage to Prince Philip. (Was Prince Philip unfaithful? You can read our Season 2 guide to his alleged infidelities.)
“You married a wild spirit, we both did,” Mountbatten tells the Queen, before suggesting that trying to “tame” Edwina or Philip was of no use: “When you really adore someone, as fully and desperately as you think and I, you put up with anything. “
In real life, Mountbatten himself would also have extramarital affairs, most famously with married French socialite Yola Letellier, whose life story would be the inspiration behind the book Gigi (and subsequent musical and film adaptations of the same name). .
Who killed Lord Mountbatten?
Lord Mountbatten was assassinated by the Irish Republican Army (IRA) in a boat explosion off the coast of Mullaghmore, County Sligo, northwestern Ireland. The attack took place during the August holidays, on August 27, 1979.
Mountbatten had a summer house, Classiebawn Castle, located in the small seaside village of Sligo. He had taken out his fishing boat “Shadow V”, accompanied by his eldest daughter Patricia and her family.
Mountbatten’s 14-year-old nephew Nicholas Knatchbull was also killed, as was 15-year-old crew member Paul Maxwell (Nicholas’ twin brother Timothy survived). Widow Lady Brabourne, Patricia’s elderly mother-in-law, later died of her injuries.
The IRA claimed responsibility, issuing a statement that added: “This operation is one of the discriminated ways in which we can bring the continued occupation of our country to the attention of the British people.”
A witness told the New York Times: “The boat was there one minute and the next minute it was like a lot of matches floating on the water.”
Another witness, Richard Wood-Martin, was on a nearby boat and later told the Guardian: “There was a puff of smoke, a loud bang, a shower of pieces of wood and the boat was gone. One person was thrown to the left and it was Timothy [Knatchbull]. I managed to drag him onto the boat. He was face down in the water. “
In November 1979 Thomas McMahon, a 31-year-old fitter and expert bomb-maker, was found guilty of planting the bomb. Francis McGirl, a gravedigger, was also charged, but later acquitted. Both men were arrested two hours before the bomb went off at 11.45am; the prosecution would later claim to have planted the bomb, but others were responsible for the explosion. (via The Times, November 24, 1979)
The prosecution determined that the green paint found on McMahon’s clothing matched the paint on Shadow V. The prosecution also determined that various trace substances found on his clothing (e.g., ammonium nitrate) were the same substances used in the ‘explosion.
What was Lord Mountbatten’s relationship with Prince Charles?
Lord Mountbatten was reportedly an “honorary grandfather” to the descendants of his grandson, Prince Philip, including Prince Charles.
Prince Charles once said of his great-uncle “Dickie”: “I admire him almost more than anyone I know.” (via The New York Times)
Charles also confided in Mountbatten about his personal life. After the marriage of Camilla Parker-Bowles, a seemingly distraught Charles wrote to his great-uncle and confidant: “I suppose the feeling of emptiness will eventually pass.”
In 2015, Charles visited the Sligo site where Mountbatten was killed and reportedly told a benefactor: “It’s been a long time … I never thought it would happen.”
He also spoke of his “profound loss” in a speech given at a local art center. “I couldn’t imagine how we could come to terms with the anguish of such a profound loss since, to me, Lord Mountbatten represented the grandfather I never had,” he said.
“Through this terrible experience, however, I now deeply understand the agonies endured by so many others in these islands, of whatever faith, denomination or political tradition”.
Did Prince Charles speak at Mountbatten’s funeral?
Mountbatten was buried on September 5, 1979, nine days after his death, in a large ceremonial funeral at Westminster Abbey with around 2,000 guests.
According to the BBC, he would “plan much of the funeral himself,” meaning he would identify who wanted to speak during the service (as seen in Netflix’s The Crown).
The lesson, Psalm 107, was read by Prince Charles, and paid homage to Mountbatten’s naval career: “Those who go down to the sea in ships, to pursue their affairs in great waters.” Meanwhile one of the hymns was “the hymn of the sailor”, “Eternal Father, strong to save”. (via The New York Times)
Various videos available on YouTube (including this one via the Associated Press) document the funeral ceremony and the presence of Prince Charles inside the abbey.
During the parade preceding the funeral, Dolly, Lord Mountbatten’s black steed, was led by an attendant. Mountbatten’s boots had been placed (inverted) in the stirrups.
Did Mountbatten warn Charles to stop seeing Camilla and find a princess?
In episode one of the fourth season of The Crown, Lord Mountbatten writes a stern letter to his great grandson, Prince Charles, a few hours before his death. In the letter (delivered after his assassination), he explains why Charles must overcome his infatuation with Camilla Parker-Bowles and instead marry someone more suitable.
When he learned of Mountbatten’s death, Charles was on vacation with “Kanga” (Lady Tryon) and her husband at their lodge in Iceland (as depicted in The Crown).
It is not known whether Charles later received this last letter, but Mountbatten strongly disapproved of Camilla as Charles’s potential wife, and even encouraged him to marry a “softer-tempered girl” (more below).
In her 2007 biography of Princess Diana, Sarah Bradford suggests that the Mountbatten Army actually sent Charles (who signed up for military service in 1971) expressly overseas to dent Charles and Camilla’s budding relationship.
According to Jonathan Dimbleby’s biography of Prince Charles, Mountbatten hoped that Charles could marry Amanda Knatchbull (his niece), while the Queen Mother preferred the Spencer sisters (one of whom, Diana, Charles eventually got married).
After Camilla’s wedding in 1973, Charles had a number of romantic adventures, including a (declined) marriage proposal rumored to Mountbatten’s aforementioned niece Amanda.
In February 1974, Mountbatten wrote to Charles: “In a case like yours, the man should sow his wild oats and have all the relationships he can before settling down, but for a wife he should choose a suitable, attractive and sweet person. . girl with character before meeting someone else she might fall in love with … It is disturbing for women to have experiences if they are to stay on a pedestal after marriage. “
That same 1974 letter appears to be quoted in the fourth season of The Crown. In Mountbatten’s (apparently fictional) letter that Charles reads on a plane, it is stated: “Do I still have to remind you of the importance of building your destiny with a sweet and innocent and good-natured girl?”
Crown’s fourth season will be released on November 15th. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guide to the best shows on Netflix and the best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.
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