Lord Ivar Mountbatten is best known these days as one of the Season 3 winners of The Traitors.
But, Ivar, who is a cousin of King Charles through Prince Philip’s family, is now making headlines for something much more personal.
He just opened up about his strained relationship with his mother, Janet Mercedes Bryce. And according to Ivar, things between them were never easy.
Ivar Mountbatten says his mother “never” raised him
“Both my brother and myself have quite a torturous relationship with her,” the 62-year-old royal and Traitors prize pot winner revealed on the August 18 episode of Rosebud With Gyles Brandreth podcast. “I mean, she never looked after us. We were brought up by nannies.”
Janet, now 87, was married to David Mountbatten, the 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, until his death in 1970. The couple had two sons, George and Ivar. But after their father passed, Ivar says their mother wasn’t around much at all.
“We had this wonderful German nanny who looked after us right from the word go,” he recalled. “In fact, I went on holiday with my nanny because [she] wouldn’t refuse my mother to look after us. She would be absolutely hopeless. So we didn’t really see her very much as youngsters.”
Ivar remembered how he and George would question her absence during family holidays. “We would often say to her, ‘Why didn’t you come down for Christmas? Why didn’t you come down for the weekend?’ Her stock answer was, ‘I can’t be bothered.’”
While he admits her parenting style was “irritating,” Ivar insists he doesn’t carry resentment. “We had the most wonderful life. I always say that I’ve got nothing to complain about. I’m one of those people that just gets on with it.”
Still, time hasn’t softened their bond. Janet has been bedridden since a hip replacement in 2018, and Ivar says he and his brother are now responsible for her care. “It’s laziness,” he said. “That sort of irritated my brother and myself. So we’ve ended up having to do everything for her.”
Even with the years of distance, Ivar admitted the thought of losing her brings up complicated feelings. “When she finally goes, will I be sad? I suppose, yes, I will be sad.”
Even through the strain, his feelings show a son’s love never fully disappears.
Season 3 of The Traitors streams on Peacock.
TELL US – ARE YOU SURPRISED TO HEAR THAT LORD IVAR MOUNTBATTEN AND HIS MOTHER HAVE SUCH A COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIP?
