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First ever British royal gay wedding announced

It's a big year for royal weddings!
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It’s a big year for British royal weddings – Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tied the knot at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor on May 19, and Princess Eugenie and her partner Jack Brooksbank are set to wed in October, 2018, in the same chapel. 

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Now, it’s been announced that Lord Ivar Mountbatten, a cousin of Queen Elizabeth II and a great-great-great grandson of Queen Victoria, will tie the knot with his partner James Coyle later this year.

Mountbatten, 55, made history as the first member of the extended royal family to come out publicly, revealing his relationship with Coyle two years ago in a Daily Mail interview. 

Lord Mountbatten was previously married to Lady Penny Mountbatten for 16 years, during which time they had three daughters. The couple divorced in 2011.

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Lord Mountbatten and his ex-wife Penny, 1994 (Credit: Getty Images)
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It’s been revealed that Penny will give her former husband away at his upcoming nuptials, a sweet idea that was suggested by their daughters. 

‘It makes me feel quite emotional. I’m really very touched,’ Penny told Daily Mail

In the early days of their relationship, Mountbatten revealed to Penny he was bisexual and shared that he had previously been romantically linked to men. 

When he came out in 2016, Mountbatten admitted he had ‘struggled’ with his sexuality for many years, particularly his teens and 20s, and acknowledged he still did in some ways.

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He previously told Mail on Sunday, ‘I was driven into the closet by not wanting to come to terms with who I was and facing friends and family in the early years. I buried it.

‘I even had girlfriends as I tried to work out what I wanted to be.’ 

This article originally appeared on New Idea.

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