Lord Ivar Mountbatten brought a genuinely singular resume to Season 3 of The Traitors, one built on royal proximity and a personal history that made him one of the more unusual casting gets in the show’s history. His connection to the British monarchy is close enough that few American reality shows have ever had a cast member like him.
Lord Ivar Alexander Michael Mountbatten was born March 9, 1963, in London, a second cousin of King Charles III, and further back, a third cousin once removed of the late Queen Elizabeth II and a first cousin once removed of Prince Philip, making him one of the closest members of the extended British royal family to ever appear on an American reality competition show.
Marriage to Penny Thompson and Three Daughters
In 1994, Mountbatten married Penelope Anne Thompson, known as Penny. The couple had three daughters: Ella Louise Georgina, born in Cambridge in March 1996; Alexandra “Alix” Nada Victoria; and Louise “Luli” Xenia Rose, born at the family’s Bridwell Park estate in Devon in July 2002. Ivar and Penny separated in 2010 and finalized their divorce in 2011, after 17 years of marriage.
The First Openly Gay Royal Relative
Mountbatten is documented as the first openly gay member of the monarch’s extended family, a fact reported across UK and US press well before his Traitors appearance. He met James Coyle, an airline cabin services director, at a bar in Verbier, Switzerland, in 2015, and the two married on September 22, 2018, in a small ceremony at Bridwell Park, marking the first same-sex wedding in the extended royal family’s history. Penny, his ex-wife, walked him down the aisle and handed him off to Coyle, a detail widely covered at the time as evidence of how the family had reconciled around his coming out after years, by his own account, of concealing his attraction to men earlier in his life.
Part of the First Four-Way Win
In the game itself, Mountbatten played the full season as a Faithful and was part of the surviving group that reached the finale and correctly banished the last remaining Traitor, Britney Haynes, to end the season. That result made him one of the four co-winners alongside Dolores Catania, Dylan Efron, and Gabby Windey, the first four-way Faithful win in the American version’s history, and NBC and other outlets covered the moment through interviews with all four winners about how the unusual ending played out.
The Prize Money and Life Since the Finale
Each of the four winning Faithfuls took home an equal share of the $204,300 prize pot, roughly $51,075 apiece. Mountbatten told People he put his share toward his daughters’ university tuition, a practical use of reality-TV winnings that stood out against a cast full of celebrities who didn’t need the money the same way.
Life Now
What makes Mountbatten a unique case in this cast isn’t gameplay technique. It’s that he’s arguably the single most unusual casting choice the show has ever made, a titled member of the British aristocracy playing a format built around court-intrigue-style betrayal, who happens to also be a genuine historical first within his own family. More on how the rest of Season 3 played out is covered in OpenThreadNews’ Traitors Season 3 cast guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is Lord Ivar Mountbatten related to the royal family?
He is a second cousin of King Charles III, a third cousin once removed of the late Queen Elizabeth II, and a first cousin once removed of Prince Philip.
Did Lord Ivar Mountbatten win The Traitors?
Yes. He was one of four co-winners in Season 3, alongside Dolores Catania, Dylan Efron, and Gabby Windey, the first four-way Faithful win in the show’s American history.
Who is Lord Ivar Mountbatten married to?
He married James Coyle on September 22, 2018, at Bridwell Park in Devon, the first same-sex wedding in the extended British royal family’s history. He was previously married to Penny Thompson from 1994 to 2011.
