Lord Ivar Mountbatten is first member of royal family to come out as gay

There's new love in the royal family. Lord Ivar Mountbatten, Queen Elizabeth's cousin has a new partner, James Coyle, and has come out as gay. This makes him the first royal member to do so.

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Mountbatten is close friends with his cousin Prince Edward, to whose oldest child, Lady Louise, he is godfather and says that the prince and other family members have been supportive of the news, the Daily Mail reported on Sunday. Although many might assume that being a member of the royal family would present a challenge, Mountbatten says that was never the issue.

"Being a Mountbatten was never the problem, it was the generation into which I was born," he told the newspaper. When I was growing up, it was known as 'the love that dare not speak its name.'

His relationship with Coyle, an airline cabin services director, follows his marriage to his wife, Penny (the two divorced in 2011), with whom he has three daughters. He says that though his family is supportive of his identity, he's struggled with his own sexuality along the way.

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"'Coming out' is such a funny phrase," he says. But it's what I suppose I did in a rather roundabout way, emerging to a place I'm happy to be. I have struggled with my sexuality and in some ways I still do; it has been a real journey to reach this point."

And Coyle says he struggled with his own sexuality and is now finally able to live his truth—and to do so with Mountbatten at his side.

"I'm just so pleased now to have found someone who I am happy to call my partner. My work involves a lot of travel. For the first time I have had someone to come home to."

Mountbatten sees his life under much the same lens, recognizing the difficulty of what it means for his daughters.

" . . . Their father has a boyfriend. It's that complicated and that simple, but finding James means I will not have to lie to anyone or grow old on my own."

This story originally appeared on Vanity Fair.

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