Member of the royal family comes out as gay and makes history

LONDON -- The Queen's cousin has become the first member of the extended royal family to come out as gay.

Lord Ivar Mountbatten -- cousin to Queen Elizabeth II and great-great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria -- talked to The Mail on Sunday about his lifelong struggle to accept his sexuality.

"'Coming out' is such a funny phrase 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," Mountbatten told the Mail.

“I am a lot happier now, though I am still not 100 percent comfortable with being gay. "Being a Mountbatten was never the problem. It was the generation into which I was born. When I was growing up, it was known as 'the love that dare not speak its name,' but what's amazing now is how far we have all come in terms of acceptance," he continued.

Mountbatten revealed that he is in a relationship with James Coyle, an airline cabin services director, who he met in Swiss skiing resort Verbier.

"It was not an easy time in my teens or 20s. I'm just so pleased now to have found someone who I am happy to call my partner," he said. Mountbatten discussed his struggle to accept his sexuality in his youth and his subsequent marriage to Penelope Thompson in 1994. "I never thought I would get married because I didn't want to be untruthful," said Mountbatten. "Penny was aware before we got married. I told her I was bisexual, that my attraction went both ways. She was understanding and I will always be grateful to her. We had a lot of fun, we have three fabulous daughters and I don't regret any stage of my life."