Mountbatten’s 38-year marriage was far from perfect
Louis and Edwina were said to have taken on multiple partners during their married life
London: She was hailed “the most beautiful woman in England”, so when the dashing prince, Louis and Edwina Mountbatten walked down the aisle in 1922, it was the society wedding of the decade.
But behind closed doors, their 38-year marriage was far from perfect — with Lord Mountbatten once admitting: “Edwina and I spent all our married lives getting into other people’s beds.” She was said to be sexually obsessed, once being “thrusted” across a banquet table during a romp with one lover. Lord Mountbatten – who Prince Louis is widely-believed to be named after – was “devastated” by her infidelity in the early days of their marriage.
Realising he had little choice in the matter, he began taking lovers of his own, too, the report said.
In 2019, FBI documents from the 1940s revealed shocking claims that Mountbatten — who was murdered by an IRA bomb in 1979 — was secretly “a homosexual with a perversion for young boys”.
By the time he met 20-year-old Edwina Ashley, in 1920, she was a leading light in London society with an inheritance of 2 million pounds (equivalent to 53 million pounds today) from her grandfather, financier Ernest Cassel, to fund her party lifestyle.
“As Edwina became increasingly close to Nehru, new rumours were beginning to circulate about Lord Mountbatten,” the Sun reported.
The FBI had interviewed several people who claimed the naval commander was bisexual. It also revealed: “Lord Louis Mountbatten and his wife are considered persons of extremely low morals.” Many memos about Mountbatten’s sexuality have been edited or destroyed since.