Earl Mountbatten’s Grandson Speaks About the Murder of His Family Members

On the 27th of August 1979, Louis Mountbatten, the Earl Mountbatten was murdered along with his 14 year-old grandson, Nicholas Knatchbull, 15 year-old Paul Maxwell, and Baroness Brabourne, the 83 year-old mother in law of the Earl’s daughter. They were enjoying a leisurely holiday outing in the family’s boat on the waters off of Mullaghmore in County Sligo, Ireland, when a bomb placed on the boat was detonated by a member of the IRA.

The bomb had been placed on the boat by the IRA member the night before. It was detonated via remote control device during the family’s outing the following day. 31 year-old Thomas McMahon served almost twenty years in prison for murder after he was found guilty of placing the bomb on the boat.

Timothy Knatchbull was lucky to escape the attack with his life-and some serious shrapnel wounds. In light of the 30 year anniversary of the attack, he is speaking out for the first time about the events of that horrifying day. Earl Mountbatten was his grandfather. Nicholas Knatchbull was Timothy’s twin brother, and Baroness Brabourne was his grandmother.

In an article in Monstersandcritics.com, Knatchbull says that he “has been struggling to cope with the deaths of his family members for years.”He has been able to work through his grief and anger thanks to the support of his remaining family members. Earl Mountbatten was Prince Philip’s uncle. He also had a very close relationship with Prince Charles, who was deeply saddened by the death of the man he considered his mentor.

Knatchbull has returned to the scene of the explosion in an effort to deal with his grief. He spoke to BBC Radio 4 about the visits and stated that, “I did it very quietly and very privately in 2003 and 2004 and I found that by digging deep and finding out for myself first hand who did it and how, and indeed why, I was able to get to a whole new level of forgiveness and healing.”

Timothy Knatchbull has written a book about the tragedy called, “From a Clear Blue Sky”. It will be released later this year.

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Filed under Historical Royals, The United Kingdom
Tagged Anniversary, Death, Louis Earl Mountbatten of Burma, Terrorism, Timothy Knatchbull.

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