Mountbatten attended theRoyal Naval College, Osborne, before entering the Royal Navy in 1916. He saw action during the closing phase of theFirst World War, and after the war briefly attendedChrist's College, Cambridge. During theinterwar period, Mountbatten continued to pursue his naval career, specialising in naval communications. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, he commanded the destroyerHMS Kelly and the5th Destroyer Flotilla. He saw considerable action in Norway, in the English Channel, and in the Mediterranean. In August 1941, he received command of the aircraft carrierHMS Illustrious. He was appointed chief ofCombined Operations and a member of theChiefs of Staff Committee in early 1942, and organised the raids onSt Nazaire andDieppe. In August 1943, Mountbatten became Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia Command and oversaw the recapture ofBurma andSingapore from the Japanese by the end of 1945. For his service during the war, Mountbatten was created viscount in 1946 andearl the following year.
In February 1947, Mountbatten was appointed Viceroy and Governor-General of India and oversaw thePartition of India intoIndia andPakistan. He then served as the first Governor-General of the Union of India until June 1948 and played a significant role in persuadingprincely states to accede to India.[1] In 1952, Mountbatten was appointed commander-in-chief of the BritishMediterranean Fleet andNATO CommanderAllied Forces Mediterranean. From 1955 to 1959, he wasFirst Sea Lord, a position that had been held by his father,Prince Louis of Battenberg, some forty years earlier. Thereafter he served aschief of the Defence Staff until 1965, making him the longest-serving professional head of the British Armed Forces to date. During this period Mountbatten also served aschairman of the NATO Military Committee for a year.
Mountbatten was baptised in the large drawing room of Frogmore House on 17 July 1900 by theDean of Windsor,Philip Eliot. His godparents were Queen Victoria (his maternal great-grandmother), Nicholas II of Russia (his maternal uncle through marriage and paternal second cousin, represented by the child's father) andPrince Francis Joseph of Battenberg (his paternal uncle, represented byLord Edward Clinton).[5] He wore the original 1841royal christening gown at the ceremony.[5]
Mountbatten's nickname among family and friends was "Dickie"; however "Richard" was not among his given names. This was because his great-grandmother, Queen Victoria, had suggested the nickname of "Nicky", but to avoid confusion with the many Nickys of the Russian Imperial Family ("Nicky" was particularly used to refer toNicholas II, the last Tsar), "Nicky" was changed to "Dickie".[6]
At the age of 16, Mountbatten was posted asmidshipman to thebattlecruiserHMS Lion in July 1916 and, after seeing action in August 1916, transferred to the battleshipHMS Queen Elizabeth during the closing phases of theFirst World War.[8] In June 1917, when the royal family stopped using their German names and titles and adopted the more British-sounding "Windsor", Mountbatten acquired thecourtesy title appropriate to a younger son of a marquess, becoming known asLord Louis Mountbatten (Lord Louis for short) until he was created a peer in his own right in 1946.[11] He paid a visit of ten days to the Western Front in July 1918.[12]
While still an acting-sub-lieutenant, Mountbatten was appointedfirst lieutenant (second-in-command) of theP-class sloop HMS P. 31 on 13 October 1918 and was confirmed as asubstantivesub-lieutenant on 15 January 1919. HMS P. 31 took part in the Peace River Pageant on 4 April 1919. Mountbatten attendedChrist's College, Cambridge, for two terms, starting in October 1919, where he studied English literature (includingJohn Milton andLord Byron) in a programme designed to augment the education of junior officers which had been curtailed by the war.[13][14] He was elected for a term to the Standing Committee of theCambridge Union Society and was suspected of sympathy for the Labour Party, then emerging as a potential party of government for the first time.[15]
Prince Edward with his staff all wearing kimono during the Pacific visit to Japan in 1922. (Mountbatten standing, first from left). TheRising Sun Flag in the background.
Mountbatten was posted to the battlecruiserHMS Renown in March 1920 and accompaniedEdward, Prince of Wales, on a royal tour of Australia in her.[11] He was promoted lieutenant on 15 April 1920.[16] HMS Renown returned to Portsmouth on 11 October 1920.[17] Early in 1921 Royal Navy personnel were used for civil defence duties asserious industrial unrest seemed imminent. Mountbatten had to command a platoon of stokers, many of whom had never handled a rifle before, inNorthern England.[17] He transferred to the battlecruiserHMS Repulse in March 1921 and accompanied the Prince of Wales on a Royal tour of India and Japan.[11][18]Edward and Mountbatten formed a close friendship during the trip.[11] Mountbatten survived the deep defence cuts known as theGeddes Axe. Fifty-two percent of the officers of his year had had to leave the Royal Navy by the end of 1923; although he was highly regarded by his superiors, it was also true that wealthy and well-connected officers were more likely to be retained.[19] Mountbatten was posted to the battleshipHMS Revenge in theMediterranean Fleet in January 1923.[11]
In 1934, Mountbatten was appointed to his first command – the destroyerHMS Daring.[11] His ship was a new destroyer, which he was to sail to Singapore and exchange for an older ship,HMS Wishart.[11] He successfully broughtWishart back to port in Malta and then attended thefuneral of George V in January 1936.[23] Mountbatten was appointed a personal navalaide-de-camp toKing Edward VIII on 23 June 1936[24] and, having joined the Naval Air Division of theAdmiralty in July 1936,[25] he attended thecoronation of George VI and Elizabeth in May 1937.[26] Mountbatten was promotedcaptain on 30 June 1937[27] and was then given command of the destroyerHMS Kelly in June 1939.[28]
Within the Admiralty, Mountbatten was called "The Master of Disaster" for his penchant of getting into messes.[29][30]
Mountbatten inspecting sailors before theBruneval Raid, February 1942
When war broke out in September 1939, Mountbatten became Captain (D) (commander) of the5th Destroyer Flotilla aboard HMSKelly, which became famous for its exploits.[25] In late 1939 he broughtthe Duke of Windsor back from exile in France and in early May 1940 Mountbatten led a British convoy in through the fog to evacuate the Allied forces participating in theNamsos campaign during theNorwegian campaign.[28]
On the night of 9–10 May 1940,Kelly was torpedoed amidships by a GermanE-boatS 31 off the Dutch coast, and Mountbatten thereafter commanded the 5th Destroyer Flotilla from the destroyerHMS Javelin.[28] On 29 November 1940 the 5th Flotilla engaged three German destroyers offLizard Point, Cornwall. Mountbatten turned to port to match a German course change. This was "a rather disastrous move as thedirectors swung off and lost target"[31] and it resulted inJavelin being struck by two torpedoes. He rejoinedKelly in December 1940, by which time the torpedo damage had been repaired.[28]
In August 1941, Mountbatten was appointed captain of theaircraft carrierHMS Illustrious which lay inNorfolk, Virginia, for repairs followingaction at Malta in January.[32] During this period of relative inactivity, he paid a flying visit toPearl Harbor, three months before theJapanese attack on it. Mountbatten, appalled at the US naval base's lack of preparedness, drawing on Japan's history of launching wars with surprise attacks as well as the successful British surprise attack at theBattle of Taranto which had effectively knocked Italy's fleet out of the war, and the sheer effectiveness of aircraft against warships, accurately predicted that the US would enter the war after a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor.[32][37]
His duties in this role included inventing new technical aids to assist with opposed landings.[25] Noteworthy technical achievements of Mountbatten and his staff include the construction of"PLUTO", an underwater oil pipeline to Normandy, an artificialMulberry harbour constructed of concrete caissons and sunken ships, and the development oftank-landing ships.[25] Another project Mountbatten proposed to Churchill wasProject Habakkuk. It was to be an unsinkable 600-metre aircraft carrier made from reinforced ice ("Pykrete"); Habakkuk was never carried out due to its enormous cost.[25]
Mountbatten in 1943
As commander of Combined Operations, Mountbatten and his staff planned the highly successfulBruneval raid, which gained important information and captured part of a GermanWürzburg radar installation and one of the machine's technicians on 27 February 1942. It was Mountbatten who recognised that surprise and speed were essential to capture the radar, and saw that an airborne assault was the only viable method.[39]
On 18 March 1942, he was promoted to theacting rank ofvice admiral and given thehonorary ranks oflieutenant general[40] andair marshal to have the authority to carry out his duties in Combined Operations; and, despite the misgivings of GeneralSir Alan Brooke, theChief of the Imperial General Staff,[41] Mountbatten was placed in theChiefs of Staff Committee.[42] He was in large part responsible for the planning and organisation of theSt Nazaire Raid on 28 March, which put out of action one of the most heavily defended docks in Nazi-occupied France until well after the war's end, the ramifications of which contributed to allied supremacy in theBattle of the Atlantic. After the successes at Bruneval and St Nazaire came the disastrousDieppe Raid of 19 August 1942. He was central in the planning and promotion of the raid on the port ofDieppe. The raid was a marked failure, with casualties of almost 60%, the great majority of them Canadians.[32] Following the Dieppe Raid, Mountbatten became a controversial figure in Canada, with theRoyal Canadian Legion distancing itself from him during his visits there during his later career.[43] His relations with Canadian veterans, who blamed him for the losses, "remained frosty" after the war.[44]
Mountbatten during his tour of theArakan campaign in Burma in February 1944
Mountbatten claimed that the lessons learned from the Dieppe Raid were necessary for planning the Normandy invasion onD-Day nearly two years later. However, military historians such as Major GeneralJulian Thompson, a former member of theRoyal Marines, have written that these lessons should not have needed a debacle such as Dieppe to be recognised.[45] Nevertheless, as a direct result of the failings of the Dieppe Raid, the British made several innovations, most notablyHobart's Funnies, specialised armoured vehicles which, in the course of theNormandy Landings, undoubtedly saved many lives on those three beachheads upon which Commonwealth soldiers were landing (Gold Beach,Juno Beach andSword Beach).[46]
In August 1943, Churchill appointed Mountbatten the Supreme Allied CommanderSouth East Asia Command (SEAC) with promotion to acting fulladmiral.[32] His less practical ideas were sidelined by an experienced planning staff led by Lieutenant-ColonelJames Allason, though some, such as a proposal to launch an amphibious assault nearRangoon, got as far as Churchill before being quashed.[47]
Mountbatten's address on the steps of Singapore'sMunicipal Building after the surrender
British interpreterHugh Lunghi recounted an embarrassing episode during thePotsdam Conference when Mountbatten, desiring to receive an invitation to visit theSoviet Union, repeatedly attempted to impressJoseph Stalin with his former connections to theRussian imperial family. The attempt fell predictably flat, with Stalin dryly inquiring whether "it was some time ago that he had been there". Says Lunghi, "The meeting was embarrassing because Stalin was so unimpressed. He offered no invitation. Mountbatten left with his tail between his legs."[48]
During his time as Supreme Allied Commander of the Southeast Asia Theatre, his command oversaw therecapture of Burma from the Japanese by GeneralSir William Slim.[49] A personal high point was the receipt of the Japanese surrender in Singapore when British troops returned to the island to receive the formal surrender of Japanese forces in the region led by GeneralItagaki Seishiro on 12 September 1945, codenamedOperation Tiderace.[50] South East Asia Command was disbanded in May 1946 and Mountbatten returned home with the substantive rank of rear-admiral.[51] That year, he was made aKnight Companion of the Garter and createdViscount Mountbatten of Burma, ofRomsey in theCounty of Southampton, as avictory title for war service. He was then in 1947 further createdEarl Mountbatten of Burma andBaron Romsey, of Romsey in the County of Southampton.[52][53]
Following the war, Mountbatten was known to have largely shunned the Japanese for the rest of his life out of respect for his men killed during the war and, as per his will, Japan was not invited to send diplomatic representatives to his funeral in 1979, though he did meet EmperorHirohito during his state visit to Britain in 1971, reportedly at the urging of the Queen.[54]
Mountbatten's experience in the region and in particular his perceivedLabour sympathies at that time, alongside his wife's longstanding friendship and collaboration withV. K. Krishna Menon, led to Menon putting forth Mountbatten's name alone as a viceregal candidate acceptable to theIndian National Congress, in clandestine meetings with SirStafford Cripps andClement Attlee.[55] Attlee advisedKing George VI to appoint MountbattenViceroy of India on 20 February 1947[56][57] charged with overseeing the transition of British India to independence no later than 30 June 1948. Mountbatten's instructions were to avoid partition and preserve a united India as a result of thetransfer of power but authorised him to adapt to a changing situation in order to get Britain out promptly with minimal reputational damage.[58][59]
Mountbatten arrived in India on 22 March by air, fromLondon. In the evening, he was taken tohis residence and two days later, he took the Viceregal oath. His arrival saw large-scale communal riots inDelhi,Bombay andRawalpindi. Mountbatten concluded that the situation was too volatile to wait even a year before granting independence to India. Although his advisers favoured a gradual transfer of independence, Mountbatten decided the only way forward was a quick and orderly transfer of power before 1947 was out. In his view, any longer would mean civil war.[60] Mountbatten also hurried so he could return to the Royal Navy.[61][62]
Mountbatten was fond ofCongress leaderJawaharlal Nehru and his liberal outlook for the country, and, through the efforts of their close mutual friend,Krishna Menon, developed a certain depth of feeling and intimacy with Nehru that was shared by his wife, Edwina. He felt differently about theMuslim League leaderMuhammad Ali Jinnah, but was aware of his power, stating "If it could be said that any single man held the future of India in the palm of his hand in 1947, that man was Mohammad Ali Jinnah."[62] During his meeting with Jinnah on 5 April 1947,[63] Mountbatten tried to persuade him of a united India, citing the difficult task of dividing the mixed states ofPunjab andBengal, but the Muslim leader was unyielding in his goal of establishing aseparate Muslim statecalled Pakistan.[64]
Given the British government's recommendations to grant independence quickly, Mountbatten concluded that a united India was an unachievable goal and resigned himself to a plan for partition, creating the independent nations of India and Pakistan.[25] Mountbatten set a date for the transfer of power from the British to the Indians, arguing that a fixed timeline would convince Indians of his and the British government's sincerity in working towards a swift and efficient independence, excluding all possibilities of stalling the process.[65]
Mountbatten's proposed flag for India, consisting of the flag of the Indian National Congressdefaced with a Union Jack in the canton. It was rejected by Nehru, as he felt that the more extremist members of Congress would see the inclusion of the Union Jack on an Indian flag as pandering to the British.[66]
Mountbatten's proposed flag for Pakistan, consisting of the flag of the Muslim Leaguedefaced with a Union Jack in the canton. It was rejected by Jinnah, as he felt that a flag featuring a Christian Cross alongside the Islamic Crescent would be unacceptable to the Muslims of Pakistan.[66]
Among the Indian leaders,Mahatma Gandhi emphatically insisted on maintaining aunited India and for a while successfully rallied people to this goal. During his meeting with Mountbatten, Gandhi asked Mountbatten to invite Jinnah to form a new central government, but Mountbatten never uttered a word of Gandhi's ideas to Jinnah.[67] When Mountbatten's timeline offered the prospect of attaining independence soon, sentiments took a different turn. Given Mountbatten's determination, Nehru andSardar Patel's inability to deal with the Muslim League and, lastly, Jinnah's obstinacy, allIndian party leaders (except Gandhi) acquiesced to Jinnah's plan to divide India,[68] which in turn eased Mountbatten's task. Mountbatten also developed a strong relationship with theIndian princes, who ruled those portions of India not directly under British rule. His intervention was decisive in persuading the vast majority of them to see advantages in opting to join theIndian Union.[69] On one hand, the integration of the princely states can be viewed as one of the positive aspects of his legacy[70] but on the other, the refusal ofHyderabad,Jammu and Kashmir, andJunagadh to join one of the dominions led to futurewars between Pakistan and India.[71]
Mountbatten brought forward the date of the partition from June 1948 to 15 August 1947.[72] The uncertainty of the borders causedMuslims andHindus to move into the direction where they felt they would get the majority. Hindus and Muslims were thoroughly terrified, and the Muslim movement from the East was balanced by the similar movement of Hindus from the West.[73] A boundary committee chaired bySir Cyril Radcliffe was charged with drawing boundaries for the new nations. With a mandate to leave as many Hindus andSikhs in India and as many Muslims in Pakistan as possible, Radcliffe came up with a map that split the two countries along the Punjab and Bengal borders. This left 14 million people on the "wrong" side of the border, and very many of them fled to "safety" on the other side when the new lines were announced.[60][74]
Mountbatten withJawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of sovereign India, in Government House. Lady Mountbatten is standing to their left.
When India and Pakistan attained independence at midnight of 14–15 August 1947, Mountbatten was alone in his study at the Viceroy's house saying to himself just before the clock struck midnight that for still a few minutes, he was the most powerful man on Earth. At 12 am, as a last act of showmanship, he createdJoan Falkiner, the Australian wife of the Nawab ofPalanpur, a highness, an act that was apparently one of his favourite duties that was annulled at the stroke of midnight.[75]
Notwithstanding the self-promotion of his own part in Indian independence – notably in the television seriesThe Life and Times of Admiral of the Fleet Lord Mountbatten of Burma, produced by his son-in-lawLord Brabourne, andFreedom at Midnight byDominique Lapierre andLarry Collins (of which he was the main quoted source) – his record is seen as very mixed. One common view is that he hastened the process of independence unduly and recklessly, foreseeing vast disruption and loss of life and not wanting this to occur on his watch, but thereby actually helping it to occur (albeit in an indirect manner), especially in Punjab and Bengal.[76]John Kenneth Galbraith, the Canadian-AmericanHarvard University economist, who advised governments of India during the 1950s and was an intimate of Nehru who served as the American ambassador from 1961 to 1963, was a particularly harsh critic of Mountbatten in this regard.[77] However, another view is that the British were forced to expedite the partition process to avoid involvement in a potential civil war with law and order having already broken down and Britain with limited resources after the Second World War.[78][79] According to historian Lawrence James, Mountbatten was left with no other option but to cut and run, with the alternative being involvement in a potential civil war that would be difficult to get out of.[78]
The creation of Pakistan was never emotionally accepted by many British leaders, among them Mountbatten.[80] Mountbatten clearly expressed his lack of support and faith in theMuslim League's idea of Pakistan.[81]Jinnah refused Mountbatten's offer to serve asGovernor-General of Pakistan.[82] When Mountbatten was asked by Collins and Lapierre if he would have sabotaged the creation of Pakistan had he known that Jinnah was dying oftuberculosis, he replied, "Most probably".[83]
Mountbatten became the firstGovernor-General of independent India on 15 August 1947 upon the request of Indian Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru.Life magazine noted on his reception in India that, "The people gathered in the streets to cheer Mountbatten as no European had ever been cheered before."[84]
During his reign as governor-general until 21 June 1948, he played a significant role in thepolitical integration of India and persuaded manyprincely states to join India.[1][85] On Mountbatten's advice, India took the issue of Kashmir to the newly formedUnited Nations in January 1948.[86] Accounts differ on the future which Mountbatten desired for Kashmir. Pakistani accounts suggest that Mountbatten favoured theaccession of Kashmir to India, citing his close relationship to Nehru. Mountbatten's own account says that he simply wantedMaharaja Hari Singh to make up his mind. The viceroy made several attempts to mediate between the Congress leaders, Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Hari Singh on issues relating to the accession of Kashmir, though he was largely unsuccessful in resolving the conflict.[87] After thetribal invasion of Kashmir, it was on his suggestion that India moved to secure the accession of Kashmir from Hari Singh before sending in military forces for his defence.[88]
After his tenure as governor-general concluded, Mountbatten continued to enjoy close relations with Nehru and the post-Independence Indian leadership, and was welcomed as a former governor-general of India on subsequent visits to the country, including during an official trip in March 1956. The Pakistani government, by contrast, lacked a positive view of Mountbatten for his perceived hostile attitude towards Pakistan and deemed himpersona non grata, barring him from transiting their airspace during the same visit.[89]
After India, Mountbatten served as commander of the1st Cruiser Squadron in theMediterranean Fleet and, having been granted thesubstantive rank ofvice-admiral on 22 June 1949,[90] he became Second-in-Command of the Mediterranean Fleet in April 1950.[85] He becameFourth Sea Lord at the Admiralty in June 1950. He then returned to the Mediterranean to serve as Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean Fleet andNATO CommanderAllied Forces Mediterranean from June 1952.[85] He was promoted to the substantive rank of full admiral on 27 February 1953.[91] In March 1953, he was appointed Personal Aide-de-Camp to the Queen.[92]
Mountbatten arrives on boardHMS Glasgow at Malta to assume command of the Mediterranean Fleet, 16 May 1952
Mountbatten served his final posting at the Admiralty asFirst Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff from April 1955 to July 1959, the position which his father had held some forty years before. This was the first time in Royal Naval history that a father and son had both attained such high office.[93] He was promoted toAdmiral of the Fleet on 22 October 1956.[94]
In theSuez Crisis of 1956, Mountbatten strongly advised his old friend Prime MinisterAnthony Eden against the Conservative government's plans to seize theSuez Canal in conjunction with France and Israel. He argued that such a move would destabilize the Middle East, undermine the authority of the United Nations, divide the Commonwealth and diminish Britain's global standing. His advice was not taken. Eden insisted that Mountbatten not resign. Instead, he worked hard to prepare the Royal Navy for war with characteristic professionalism and thoroughness.[95][96][97]
Despite his military rank, Mountbatten was ignorant as to the physics involved in a nuclear explosion and had to be reassured that the fission reactions from theBikini Atoll tests would not spread through the oceans and blow up the planet.[98] As Mountbatten became more familiar with this new form of weaponry, he increasingly grew opposed to its use in combat. Yet, he realised the potential for nuclear energy, especially with regard to submarines. Mountbatten expressed his feelings towards the use of nuclear weapons in combat in his article "A Military Commander Surveys The Nuclear Arms Race", which was published shortly after his death inInternational Security in the Winter of 1979–1980.[99]
After leaving the Admiralty, Mountbatten took the position ofChief of the Defence Staff.[85] He served in this post for six years during which he was able to consolidate the three service departments of the military branch into a singleMinistry of Defence.[100]Ian Jacob, co-author of the 1963Report on the Central Organisation of Defence that served as the basis of these reforms, described Mountbatten as "universally mistrusted in spite of his great qualities".[101] On theirelection in October 1964, theWilson ministry had to decide whether to renew his appointment the following July. TheDefence Secretary,Denis Healey, interviewed the forty most senior officials in the Ministry of Defence; only one,Sir Kenneth Strong, a personal friend of Mountbatten, recommended his reappointment.[101] "When I told Dickie of my decision not to reappoint him," recalls Healey, "he slapped his thigh and roared with delight; but his eyes told a different story."[101]
In 1969, Mountbatten tried unsuccessfully to persuade his second cousin, the Spanish pretenderInfante Juan, Count of Barcelona, to ease the eventual accession of his son,Juan Carlos, to the Spanish throne by signing a declaration of abdication while in exile.[107] The next year Mountbatten attended an official White House dinner during which he took the opportunity to have a 20-minute conversation withRichard Nixon and Secretary of StateWilliam P. Rogers, about which he later wrote, "I was able to talk to the President a bit about both Tino [Constantine II of Greece] and Juanito [Juan Carlos of Spain] to try and put over their respective points of view about Greece and Spain, and how I felt the US could help them."[107] In January 1971, Nixon hosted Juan Carlos and his wifeSofia (sister of the exiled King Constantine) during a visit to Washington and later that yearThe Washington Post published an article alleging that Nixon's administration was seeking to persuade Franco to retire in favour of the young Bourbon prince.[107]
From 1967 until 1978, Mountbatten was president of theUnited World Colleges Organisation, then represented by a single college: that ofAtlantic College in South Wales. Mountbatten supported the United World Colleges and encouraged heads of state, politicians, and personalities throughout the world to share his interest. Under his presidency and personal involvement, the United World College of South East Asia was established in Singapore in 1971, followed by theUnited World College of the Pacific inVictoria, British Columbia, in 1974. In 1978, Mountbatten passed the presidency of the college to his great-nephew,Charles, Prince of Wales.[108]
In 1975 Mountbatten finally visited theSoviet Union, leading the delegation from UK as personal representative ofQueen Elizabeth II at the celebrations to mark the 30th anniversary of Victory Day in Second World War in Moscow.[112]
Peter Wright, in his 1987 bookSpycatcher, claimed that in May 1968 Mountbatten attended a private meeting with press baronCecil King and the government's Chief Scientific Adviser,Solly Zuckerman. Wright alleged that "up to thirty"MI5 officers had joined a secret campaign to undermine the crisis-stricken Labour government ofHarold Wilson and that King was an MI5 agent. In the meeting, King allegedly urged Mountbatten to become the leader of a government of national salvation. Solly Zuckerman pointed out that it was "rank treachery" and the idea came to nothing because of Mountbatten's reluctance to act.[113] In contrast,Andrew Lownie has suggested that it took the intervention of the Queen to dissuade Mountbatten from plotting against Wilson.[114]
In 2006, the BBC documentaryThe Plot Against Harold Wilson alleged that there had been another plot involving Mountbatten to oust Wilson during his second term in office (1974–1976). The period was characterised by high inflation, increasing unemployment, and widespread industrial unrest. The alleged plot revolved around right-wing former military figures who were supposedly building private armies to counter the perceived threat from trade unions and the Soviet Union. They believed that theLabour Party was unable and unwilling to counter these developments and that Wilson was either a Soviet agent or at the very least aCommunist sympathiser – claims Wilson strongly denied. The documentary makers alleged that a coup was planned to overthrow Wilson and replace him with Mountbatten using the private armies and sympathisers in the military and MI5.[115]
The first official history of MI5,The Defence of the Realm (2009), implied that there was a plot against Wilson and that MI5 did have a file on him. Yet it also made clear that the plot was in no way official and that any activity centred on a small group of discontented officers. This much had already been confirmed by formercabinet secretaryLord Hunt, who concluded in a secret inquiry conducted in 1996 that "there is absolutely no doubt at all that a few, a very few, malcontents in MI5 ... a lot of them like Peter Wright who were right-wing, malicious and had serious personal grudges – gave vent to these and spread damaging malicious stories about that Labour government."[116]
Mountbatten was married on 18 July 1922 toEdwina Cynthia Annette Ashley, daughter ofWilfred William Ashley, later 1st Baron Mount Temple, himself a grandson of the7th Earl of Shaftesbury. She was the favourite granddaughter of the Edwardian magnateSir Ernest Cassel and the principal heir to his fortune. The couple spent heavily on households, luxuries, and entertainment.[11] There followed a honeymoon tour of European royal courts and North America which included a visit toNiagara Falls (because "all honeymooners went there").[6] During their honeymoon in California, the newlyweds starred in a silent home movie byCharlie Chaplin calledNice And Friendly, which was not shown in cinemas.[117][118]
Mountbatten admitted: "Edwina and I spent all our married lives getting into other people's beds."[119] He maintained an affair for several years withYola Letellier,[120] the wife of Henri Letellier, publisher ofLe Journal and mayor ofDeauville (1925–28).[121] Yola Letellier's life story was the inspiration forColette's novelGigi.[120]
After Edwina died in 1960, Mountbatten was involved in relationships with young women, according to his daughter Patricia, his secretary John Barratt, hisvalet Bill Evans, andWilliam Stadiem, an employee ofMadame Claude.[122] He had a long-running affair with American actressShirley MacLaine, whom he met in the 1960s.[123]
In 2019, Ron Perks, Mountbatten's driver in Malta in 1948, alleged that he used to visit the Red House, an upmarket gay brothel inRabat used by naval officers.[124]Andrew Lownie, a fellow of theRoyal Historical Society, wrote that the United StatesFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) maintained files regarding Mountbatten's alleged homosexuality.[125] Lownie also interviewed several young men who claimed to have been in a relationship with Mountbatten. John Barratt, Mountbatten's personal and private secretary for 20 years,[126] has said Mountbatten was not a homosexual, and that it would have been impossible for such a fact to have been hidden from him.[122]
In 2019, files became public showing that the FBI knew in the 1940s of allegations that Mountbatten was homosexual and apaedophile.[127] The FBI file on Mountbatten, begun after he took on the role of Supreme Allied Commander in Southeast Asia in 1944, describes Mountbatten and his wife Edwina as "persons of extremely low morals", and contains a claim by American authorElizabeth, Baroness Decies, that Mountbatten was known to be a homosexual and had "a perversion for young boys".[125][128] Norman Nield, Mountbatten's driver from 1942 to 1943, told the tabloidNew Zealand Truth that he transported young boys aged 8 to 12 who had been procured for the Admiral to Mountbatten's official residence and was paid to keep quiet.Robin Bryans had also claimed to the Irish magazineNow that Mountbatten andAnthony Blunt, along with others, were part of a ring that engaged in homosexual orgies and procured boys in their first year at public schools such as thePortora Royal School inEnniskillen. Former residents of theKincora Boys' Home inBelfast have asserted that they were trafficked to Mountbatten atClassiebawn Castle, his residence inMullaghmore, County Sligo.[129][130][131] These claims were dismissed by theHistorical Institution Abuse (HIA) Inquiry.[132][122][133] The HIA stated that the article making the original allegations "did not give any basis for the assertions that any of these people [Mountbatten and others] were connected with Kincora".[132]
In October 2022 Arthur Smyth, a former resident of Kincora, waived his anonymity to make allegations of child abuse against Mountbatten.[134] The allegations are part of a civil case against state authorities responsible for the care of children in Kincora.[134] Smyth claims that he was raped twice by Mountbatten in encounters facilitated by the house father ofKincora.[135]
Lord and Lady Mountbatten had two daughters:Patricia Knatchbull (14 February 1924 – 13 June 2017),[136] sometime lady-in-waiting toQueen Elizabeth II, andLady Pamela Hicks (born 19 April 1929), who accompanied them to India in 1947–1948 and was also sometime lady-in-waiting to the Queen.[4]
Since Mountbatten had no sons when he was created Viscount Mountbatten of Burma, of Romsey in the County of Southampton on 27 August 1946[137] and then Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Baron Romsey, in the County of Southampton on 18 October 1947,[138] theLetters Patent were drafted such that in the event he left no sons or issue in the male line, the titles could pass to his daughters, in order of seniority of birth.[53]
Mountbatten was passionate aboutgenealogy, an interest he shared with other European royalty and nobility; according to Ziegler, he spent a great deal of his leisure time in studying his links with European royal houses.[139] From 1957 until his death, Lord Mountbatten was Patron of theCambridge University Heraldic and Genealogical Society.[140] He was equally passionate about orders, decorations and military ranks and uniforms, though he considered this interest to be a sign of vanity and constantly tried to distance himself from it, with limited success.[141] Over the course of his career, he consistently attempted to secure as many orders and decorations as possible.[142] Particular about details of dress, Mountbatten took an interest in fashion design, introducing trouser zips, a tail-coat with broad, high lapels and a "buttonless waistcoat" that could be pulled on over the head.[143] In 1949, having by then relinquished the office ofGovernor-General of India but retaining a keen interest in Indian affairs, he designed new flags, insignia, and details of uniforms for theIndian Armed Forces ahead of the transition from British dominion to republic; many of his designs were implemented and remain in use.[144]
Like many members of the royal family, Mountbatten was an aficionado of polo. Mountbatten introduced the sport to the Royal Navy in the 1920s and wrote a book on the subject.[6] He received US patent 1,993,334 in 1931 for a polo stick.[145] He also served as Commodore of Emsworth Sailing Club inHampshire from 1931.[146] He was a long-serving Patron of theSociety for Nautical Research (1951–1979).[147] Apart from official documents, Mountbatten was not much of a reader, though he likedP. G. Wodehouse's books. He enjoyed the cinema; his favourite stars wereFred Astaire,Rita Hayworth,Grace Kelly andShirley MacLaine. In general, however, he had a limited interest in the arts.[141]
Mountbatten was a strong influence in the upbringing of his great-nephew, the futureKing Charles III, and later as a mentor – "Honorary Grandfather" and "Honorary Grandson", they fondly called each other according to theJonathan Dimbleby biography of the then-Prince – though according to both the Ziegler biography of Mountbatten and the Dimbleby biography of the Prince, the results may have been mixed. He from time to time strongly upbraided the Prince for showing tendencies towards the idle pleasure-seeking dilettantism of his predecessor as Prince of Wales,King Edward VIII, whom Mountbatten had known well in their youth. Yet he also encouraged the Prince to enjoy the bachelor life while he could, and then to marry a young and inexperienced girl so as to ensure a stable married life.[148]
Mountbatten's qualification for offering advice to this particular heir to the throne was unique; it was he who had arranged the visit ofKing George VI andQueen Elizabeth toDartmouth Royal Naval College on 22 July 1939, taking care to include the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret in the invitation, but assigning his nephew,CadetPrince Philip of Greece, to keep them amused while their parents toured the facility. This was the first recorded meeting of Charles's future parents[149] but a few months later, Mountbatten's efforts nearly came to naught when he received a letter from his sister Alice inAthens informing him that Philip was visiting her and had agreed torepatriate permanently to Greece. Within days, Philip received a command from his cousin and sovereign, KingGeorge II of Greece, to resume his naval career in Britain which, though given without explanation, the young prince obeyed.[150]
In 1974, Mountbatten began corresponding with Charles about a potential marriage to his granddaughter,Amanda Knatchbull, who was also Charles's second cousin.[151] It was about this time he also recommended that the 25-year-old prince get on with "sowing some wild oats".[151] Charles dutifully wrote to Amanda's mother (who was also his godmother and his father's first cousin),Lady Brabourne, about his interest. Her answer was supportive, but advised him that she thought her daughter still rather young to becourted.[152]
In February 1975, Charles visited New Delhi to playpolo and was shown aroundRashtrapati Bhavan, the former Viceroy's House, by Mountbatten.[153]
Four years later, Mountbatten secured an invitation for himself and Amanda to accompany Charles on his planned 1980 tour of India.[152] Their fathers promptly objected. Prince Philip thought that the Indian public's reception would more likely reflect their response to the uncle than to the nephew.Lord Brabourne counselled that the intense scrutiny of the press would be more likely to drive Mountbatten's godson and granddaughter apart than together.[152]
Charles was rescheduled to tour India alone, but Mountbatten did not live to the planned date of departure. When Charles finally did propose marriage to Amanda later in 1979, the circumstances were changed and she refused him.[152]
In 1969, a documentary consisting of 12 mini-series titledThe Life and Times of Lord Mountbatten which were presented by the latter, retraced his debut which crossed path which historical events of the century.[154]
On 27 April 1977, shortly before his 77th birthday, Mountbatten became the first member of the Royal Family to appear on the TV guest showThis Is Your Life.[155] In the UK, 22.22 million people tuned in to watch the programme.[156]
Mountbatten usually holidayed at his summer home,Classiebawn Castle, on theMullaghmore Peninsula in County Sligo, in the north-west of Ireland. The village was only 12 miles (19 km) fromthe border withCounty Fermanagh in Northern Ireland and near an area known to be used as a cross-border refuge byIRA members.[157][158] In 1978, the IRA had allegedly attempted to shoot Mountbatten as he was aboard his boat, but poor weather had prevented the sniper taking his shot.[159]
On 27 August 1979, Mountbatten wentlobster-potting and tuna fishing in his 30-foot (9-metre) wooden boat,Shadow V, which had been moored in the harbour at Mullaghmore.[158] IRA memberThomas McMahon had slipped onto the unguarded boat the previous night and attached a radio-controlled bomb weighing 50 pounds (23 kg). When Mountbatten and his party had taken the boat just a few hundred yards from the shore, the bomb was detonated. The boat was destroyed by the force of the blast and Mountbatten's legs were almost blown off. Mountbatten, then aged 79, was pulled alive from the water by nearby fishermen, but died from his injuries before being brought to shore.[158][160][161]
Also aboard the boat were his elder daughterPatricia, Lady Brabourne; her husbandLord Brabourne; their twin sons Nicholas and Timothy Knatchbull; Lord Brabourne's motherDoreen, Dowager Lady Brabourne; and Paul Maxwell, a young crew member fromEnniskillen in County Fermanagh.[162] Nicholas (aged 14) and Paul (aged 15) were killed by the blast and the others were seriously injured.[163] Doreen, Dowager Lady Brabourne (aged 83), died from her injuries the following day.[93]
Mountbatten's murder shocked many Irish-Americans, my parents included, because they remembered him for the role he played in defeating the Axis. "It was quite sad because being in America, you were familiar with Lord Mountbatten because of World War II," my mother recalled. "It was a very sad time." But my father didn't give in to despair. "That didn't slow down [my father] one bit. It more or less gave him more energy," my mother said.[167]
No effort will be spared to bring those responsible to justice. It is understood that subversives have claimed responsibility for the explosion. Assuming that police investigations substantiate the claim, I know that the Irish people will join me in condemning this heartless and terrible outrage.[170]
The IRA issued a statement afterward, saying:
The IRA claim responsibility for the execution of Lord Louis Mountbatten. This operation is one of the discriminate ways we can bring to the attention of the English people the continuing occupation of our country. ... The death of Mountbatten and the tributes paid to him will be seen in sharp contrast to the apathy of the British Government and the English people to the deaths of over three hundred British soldiers, and the deaths of Irish men, women, and children at the hands of their forces.[157][171]
The IRA gave clear reasons for the execution. I think it is unfortunate that anyone has to be killed, but the furor created by Mountbatten's death showed up the hypocritical attitude of the media establishment. As a member of the House of Lords, Mountbatten was an emotional figure in both British and Irish politics. What the IRA did to him is what Mountbatten had been doing all his life to other people; and with his war record I don't think he could have objected to dying in what was clearly a war situation. He knew the danger involved in coming to this country. In my opinion, the IRA achieved its objective: people started paying attention to what was happening in Ireland.[172]
Here in India, he will be remembered as a Viceroy and a Governor General who at the time of India's Independence gave us abundantly of his wisdom and goodwill. It was in recognition of our affection for him, respect for his impartiality and regard for his concern for India's freedom that the entire nation readily accepted Lord Mountbatten as the first Governor General of Independent India . His drive and vigour helped in the difficult period after our Independence.[173]
In India, a week of national mourning was declared over Mountbatten's death.[174]Burma had announced a 3-day period of mourning.[175]
In 2015, Adams said in an interview, "I stand over what I said then. I'm not one of those people that engages in revisionism. Thankfully the war is over."[176]
On 5 September 1979, Mountbatten received aceremonial funeral atWestminster Abbey, which was attended by Queen Elizabeth II, the royal family, and members of the European royal houses. Watched by thousands of people, the funeral procession, which started atWellington Barracks, included representatives of all threeBritish Armed Services, and military contingents from Burma, India, the United States (represented by 70 sailors of theUS Navy and 50US Marines[178]), France (represented by theFrench Navy) and Canada. His coffin was drawn on a gun carriage by 118 Royal Navy ratings.[179][180] Mountbatten's funeral was the first major royal funeral to be held in the Abbey since the 18th century.[181] During the televised service, his great-nephew Charles read the lesson fromPsalm 107.[179] In an address, theArchbishop of Canterbury,Donald Coggan, highlighted his various achievements and his "lifelong devotion to the Royal Navy".[182] After the public ceremonies, which he had planned himself, Mountbatten was buried inRomsey Abbey.[183][184] As part of the funeral arrangements, his body had been embalmed byDesmond Henley.[185]
Two hours before the bomb detonated, Thomas McMahon had been arrested at a Garda checkpoint betweenLongford andGranard on suspicion of driving a stolen vehicle. He was tried for the assassinations in Ireland and convicted on 23 November 1979 based on forensic evidence supplied byJames O'Donovan that showed flecks of paint from the boat and traces of nitroglycerine on his clothes.[186] He was released in 1998 under the terms of theGood Friday Agreement.[158][187]
On hearing of Mountbatten's death, the thenMaster of the Queen's Music,Malcolm Williamson, wrote theLament in Memory of Lord Mountbatten of Burma for violin and string orchestra. The 11-minute work was given its first performance on 5 May 1980 by the Scottish Baroque Ensemble, conducted by Leonard Friedman.[188]
On his death his estate was valued for probate purposes at £2,196,494 (equivalent to £14,000,000 in 2023).[189]
Mountbatten's faults, according to his biographerPhilip Ziegler, like everything else about him, "were on the grandest scale. His vanity though child-like, was monstrous, his ambition unbridled ... He sought to rewrite history with cavalier indifference to the facts to magnify his own achievements."[190] However, Ziegler concludes that Mountbatten's virtues outweighed his defects:[190]
He was generous and loyal ... He was warm-hearted, predisposed to like everyone he met, quick-tempered but never bearing grudges ... His tolerance was extraordinary; his readiness to respect and listen to the views of others was remarkable throughout his life.
Ziegler argues he was truly a great man, and despite being an executor of a policy, not initiator, he came to be known as its creator.[190]
What he could do with superlative aplomb was to identify the object at which he was aiming, and force it through to its conclusion. A powerful, analytic mind of crystalline clarity, a superabundance of energy, great persuasive powers, endless resilience in the face of setback or disaster rendered him the most formidable of operators. He was infinitely resourceful, quick in his reactions, always ready to cut his losses and start again ... He was an executor of policy rather than an initiator; but whatever the policy, he espoused it with such energy and enthusiasm, made it so completely his own, that it became identified with him and, in the eyes of the outside world as well as his own, his creation.
Mountbatten supported the burgeoning nationalist movements which grew up in the shadow of Japanese occupation. His priority was to maintain practical, stable government, but driving him was an idealism in which he believed every people should be allowed to control their own destiny. Critics said he was too ready to overlook their faults, and especially their subordination to communist control. Ziegler says that in Malaya, where the main resistance to the Japanese came from Chinese who were under considerable communist influence, "Mountbatten proved to have been naïve in his assessment. ... He erred, however, not because he was 'soft on Communism' ... but from an over-readiness to assume the best of those with whom he had dealings." Furthermore, Ziegler argues, he was following a practical policy based on the assumption that it would take a long and bloody struggle to drive the Japanese out, and he needed the support of all the anti-Japanese elements, most of which were either nationalists or communists.[192]
Mountbatten took pride in enhancing intercultural understanding and in 1984, with his elder daughter as the patron, theMountbatten Institute was developed to allow young adults the opportunity to enhance their intercultural appreciation and experience by spending time abroad.[193] The IET annually awards theMountbatten Medal for an outstanding contribution, or contributions over a period, to the promotion of electronics or information technology and their application.[20]
Mountbatten's personal papers (containing approximately 250,000 papers and 50,000 photographs) are preserved in theUniversity of Southampton Library.[198]
He was appointedpersonal aide-de-camp by Edward VIII, George VI[223] and Elizabeth II, and therefore bore the unusual distinction of being allowed to wear three royal cyphers on his epaulettes.[224][225]
The arms of the Earl Mountbatten of Burma consist of:
Crest
Crests of Hesse modified and Battenberg.
Helm
Helms of Hesse modified and Battenberg.
Escutcheon
Within the Garter, Quarterly, 1st and 4th, Hesse with a bordure compony argent and gules; 2nd and 3rd, Battenberg; charged at the honour point with an inescutcheon of the British Royal arms with a label of three points argent, the centre point charged with a rose gules and each of the others with an ermine spot sable (Princess Alice, his grandmother).[226]
Supporters
Two Lions queue fourchée and crowned all or.
Motto
In honour bound
Orders
TheOrder of the Garter ribbon. Honi soit qui mal y pense (Shame be to him who thinks evil of it)
^Mountbatten's family dropped their princely titles in 1917, after which he was styledLord Louis Mountbatten until 1946. He was styledThe Viscount Mountbatten of Burma from 1946 to 1947.
^abAs Viceroy and Governor-General of India, who was theex officio Grand Master of the order.
^Jalal (1994), p. 250: "These instructions were to avoid partition and obtain an unitary government for British India and the Indian States and at the same time observe the pledges to the princes and the Muslims; to secure agreement to theCabinet Mission plan without coercing any of the parties; somehow to keep the Indian army undivided, and to retain India within theCommonwealth. (Attlee to Mountbatten, 18 March 1947, ibid, 972–974)"
^Edwards, Phil (31 October 2000)."The Real Prince Philip"(TV documentary).Real Lives: Channel 4's portrait gallery. Channel 4.Archived from the original on 7 April 2007. Retrieved12 May 2007.
Barratt, John; Ritchie, Jean (1991).With the greatest respect: the private lives of Earl Mountbatten and Prince & Princess Michael of Kent. London: Sidgwick & Jackson.ISBN978-0-283-06098-4.
Murphy, Hugh; Oddy, Derek J. (2010).The Mirror of the Seas: A Centenary History of the Society for Nautical Research. London: Society for Nautical Research.ISBN978-0-902387-01-0.
Wilson, Scott (2016).Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons (3rd; Kindle ed.). McFarland & Company, Inc.ISBN978-1-4766-2599-7.
Ziegler, Philip, ed. (1988).Personal Diary of Admiral the Lord Louis Mountbatten: Supreme Allied Commander South-East Asia, 1943-1946 (1st ed.). London: William Collins Sons & Co.ISBN0-00-217607-6.
Copland, Ian (1993). "Lord Mountbatten and the integration of the Indian states: A reappraisal".Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History.21 (2):385–408.doi:10.1080/03086539308582896.ISSN0308-6534.
Grove, Eric; Rohan, Sally Rohan (1999). "The Limits of Opposition: Admiral Earl Mountbatten of Burma, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff".Contemporary British History.13 (2):98–116.doi:10.1080/13619469908581531.ISSN1361-9462.
Hough, Richard (1980).Mountbatten: Hero of Our Time. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.ISBN978-0-297-77805-9.
Knatchbull, Timothy (2010).From a Clear Blue Sky. London: Arrow.ISBN978-0-09-954358-9.
McLynn, Frank (2011).The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph, 1942–1945. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press.ISBN978-0-300-17836-4.
Moore, R. J. (1981). "Mountbatten, India, and the Commonwealth".Journal of Commonwealth & Comparative Politics.19 (1):5–43.doi:10.1080/14662048108447372.ISSN0306-3631.
Murfett, Malcolm (1995).The First Sea Lords from Fisher to Mountbatten. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger.ISBN978-0-275-94231-1.
Neillands, Robin (2005).The Dieppe Raid: the story of the disastrous 1942 expedition. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.ISBN978-0-253-34781-7.
Nordenvall, Per (1998).Kungl. Serafimerorden 1748–1998 [The Royal Order of the Seraphim 1748–1998] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kungl. Maj:ts orden.ISBN978-91-630-6744-0.
Ritter, Jonathan Templin (2017).Stilwell and Mountbatten in Burma: Allies at War, 1943–1944. Denton, Texas: University of North Texas Press.ISBN978-1-57441-674-9.
Smith, Adrian (1991). "Command and Control in Postwar Britain Defence Decision-making in the United Kingdom, 1945-1984".Twentieth Century British History.2 (3):291–327.doi:10.1093/tcbh/2.3.291.
——— (August 2006). "Mountbatten goes to the movies: Promoting the heroic myth through cinema".Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television.26 (3):395–416.doi:10.1080/01439680600799421.S2CID191491309.
1 Following the1857 Sepoy Mutiny.2 As representatives ofGeorge VI in his role as King of India (1947–1950).3 As representatives of George VI and thenElizabeth II in their roles as King and Queen of Pakistan, respectively.
*Not Mountbatten or Battenberg by birth. Adopted the surname Mountbatten from his maternal line on abandoning his patrilineal Greek and Danish princely titles.
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