King Charles' cousin accuses his mother of laziness

King Charles’s cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, has sparked controversy after publicly criticising his own mother, the Marchioness of Milford Haven.

The aristocrat opened up in a new interview, following in Prince Harry’s footsteps by airing family grievances in public.

Speaking on the Rosebud Podcast, Lord Ivar revealed that he “never liked” his mother, accusing her of being “lazy” and claiming she played little role in his upbringing.

“My mother never looked after us at all,” he said. “We were brought up by this German nanny and were always shipped off here and there and that was fine.”

His comments are particularly pointed given that the Marchioness, now 87, is increasingly frail. 

“I’m not complaining,” he said, “but what did irritate me and George [his brother] was, when our children were growing up, we would often say to her, Why don’t you come down for Christmas? or Why don’t you come for the weekend? Her stock answer was always that she can’t be bothered and it all came down to the fact she didn’t want to pack her suitcase because she didn’t know how to.”

He went further, adding, “There’s no affection between my mother and me. She’s been bedridden since 2018, and it’s purely laziness. So that sort of irritated my brother and myself. We’ve ended up having to do everything for her.”

Lord Ivar, who recently gained fresh fame by winning The Traitors US, lives with his husband James Coyle, an air cabin services director. 

He explained that during the pandemic, the family felt they had no choice but to move the Marchioness from London to protect her health.

“During Covid, we thought we ought to bring her down because she had a string of carers and clearly was going to get it the virus,” he said.