She was 83. Charles, in a statement, said he had "known and loved [her] ever since I can remember. 'I could imagine his presence on the landing above and I surprised myself by calling out his name. Patricia Edwina Victoria Mountbatten was born in London on Feb. 14, 1924. The man in the passenger seat seemed calm but the driver shook so much when asked to open the boot he struggled to get the key into the lock. By returning to Ireland and piecing together the story my symptoms started to fade and I found a sense of inner peace that I had lost the day my twin was killed. One autumn day, seven years ago, he returned there when it was empty. Here's what you should know. RT is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. She rejected his proposal but remained a friend. When she and her husband, John, married in 1946, Elizabeth was one of the bridesmaids. Knatchbull's bridesmaids included the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret. Lord Knatchbull died in 2005 at the family home in Mersham. On Aug. 27, 1979, the Mountbattens were in Ireland vacationing at the family's castle overlooking the fishing village of Mullaghmore. Those bombings in Warrenpoint in Northern Ireland killed 18 British soldiers and one civilian. The wooden boat disintegrated. Mrs Knatchbull and her family maintained a number of friendships from her period spent in Sligo General Hospital. We may earn commission on some of the items you choose to buy. On 28 August 2007, the Governor General of Canada presented her with the Canadian Meritorious Service Cross for her services as Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Light Infantry. If my father had survived he would have felt the same way., A descendant of Queen Victoria, Mrs. Knatchbull was close to the royal family and a lifelong confidante of Queen Elizabeth; she was also Prince Charless godmother. Nor have they ever acknowledged their actions. At first, because of the stitches to her face and eyes, she was unable to cry. "He was a wonderful father," she said, "spending as much time with us as he possible could.". Toxic trauma expert Gabor Mate diagnoses Prince Harry with attention deficit disorder but tells him it CAN 'I felt different to the rest of my family - and my mum felt the same': Prince Harry opens up on his 'broken Hollywood's love affair with the new non-binary Brit Pack: After MeToo sex scandals, Tinseltown is desperate Five unexpected signs in your 20s and 30s you're at risk of developing heart disease later in life. 'Nick's heart started beating next to mine, three weeks after our conception, and we'd hardly been separated in the 14 years and nine months since our birth. 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By yanking the boy from the sea the Wood-Martins saved his life. Her mother-in-law, the Dowager Baroness Doreen Brabourne, who was 83, died the following day. She was buried in the Knatchbull family plot in Mersham churchyard. The Dowager Baroness Brabourne, Patricia's mother-in-law, also later died of her injuries. 'And as I listened to those songs - River Deep - Mountain High; Me And You And A Dog Named Boo - I felt an emotional passageway open up to old memories, to our childhood and ultimately to Nick. But in the early years of. Knatchbull's survivors include six children; her sister; and 18 grandchildren. Mountbatten was also the uncle and guardian of Prince Philip and seen as a matchmaker between his nephew and the then Princess (now Queen) Elizabeth. But the world was mourning for him and there was a comfort in knowing that.". Lady Brabourne later said: "I was so overwhelmed with grief for Nicky, who was just on the threshold of his life, that I began to feel guilty that I was not able to grieve for my father, whom I really adored, in the same way. The body of Nicholas Knatchbull was the last to be recovered, more than an hour later. It said: " The IRA claim responsibility for the execution of Lord Louis Mountbatten. Tim did not go to his twin's funeral - a private service at the Brabournes' local church in Mersham, Kent - and neither did his parents. Remembering those times she would say "I became so overwhelmed by grief for Nicky, who was just on the threshold of his life, that I began to feel guilty that I was not able to grieve for my father, whom I really adored, in the same way. Prince Charles is godfather to both her and his late identical twin brother. When Do New Episodes of 'Mandalorian' Come Out? By the end of the next world war, he was Supreme Allied Commander South East Asia. Charles, in a statement, said he had "known and loved [her] ever since I can remember. Today he says it is an 'unbelievable relief ' that he hasn't heard the bomb for six months. The Dowager Lady Brabourne died the day after the attack and Nicholas' twin brother Timmy and his parents, Patricia and John Brabourne, were seriously injured. The death was announced by the family, but no cause was given. ", 'And as I wrote, the tears convulsed me. The wooden boat disintegrated. The locals will have their chance to remember the woman who lost a son, a father, a mother-in-law and an innocent Co Fermanagh boy one sunny afternoon in August 1979. This was during the height of the "The Troubles," when the Provisional Irish Republican Army was waging a guerrilla war against British rule in Northern Ireland. (Tommie Gorman is RTE's Northern Editor and producer of the 2015 RTE television documentary 'Remembering Mullaghmore'.). It was two-and-a-half decades before he was able to come to terms with losing his brother and, in doing so, he has also been able to forgive the IRA assassins who killed three of his family - only one of whom, Thomas McMahon, was convicted of the crime. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Also on board was their mother's adored 79-year-old father 'Dickie' Mountbatten - always known by the children as Grandpapa - and their 83-year-old paternal grandmother 'Dodo', the Dowager Lady Brabourne. But for Tim, then just 14, his loss was all-consuming and intensely private. I have very vague memories, now and again, of floating among the wood and debris, being pulled into a small rubber dinghy before totally losing consciousness for days., As seen in The Crown, Prince Charles was, in fact, vacationing in Iceland when Mountbatten was murdered. ", She said she felt guilty that her grief for her son was so deep, "that I was not able to grieve for my father, whom I really adored, in the same way.". 'Cautious' Duke 'was careful not to attack members of the Royal family' says Royal watcher amid fears he A 14-year-old autistic boy's naive prank. Prince Charles and Lord Mountbatten in 1979. Mountbatten, Nicholas Knatchbull, 14, and the deck hand, Paul Maxwell, 15, were killed in the blast. Plan meals, try new foods and explore cuisines with tested recipes from the country's top chefs. Until a minute or two later lying in a boat and hearing anxious Irish voices talking at me. 'It gives you a chance to focus, to commune, to accept - to have some form of goodbye. In August of 1979, they were enjoying their annual trip to the estate. Other senior members of the Royal family, including Prince Andrew (who appeared to have an unexplained black eye), Princess Anne, and Sophie the Countess of Wessex, attended the service, paying their respects to the Countess, who passed away peacefully earlier this month at the age of 93. ', The torrent of tears that followed was not unexpected. Some haulers caught, Arming guidance counselors? In keeping with the complex jumble that is history, as well as being the 2nd Baron Crathorne, he is also a cousin of Rose Dugdale. Knatchbull and her sister were raised by a governess and did not consider themselves close to their mother, who was absent for much of their upbringing and had a notoriously open marriage. Patricia continued to correspond with Maureen Gately, the Accident and Emergency sister, even after she retired from Sligo General to live in her native Buncrana. Her father was away too, often at sea, but he developed a close bond with his daughter. LeeAnne Pedrick Maglio, Christopher, & Toale PA 1015 15th St. NW Suite 1125 Washington, DC 20005 888-952-5242 Mrs. Knatchbull, her husband, and another son were badly wounded but recovered. Nick was my soulmate. Then he leaned down, kissed me and said, "Morning Timmy". Patricia Knatchbull, a cousin of Prince Philip who survived an Irish Republican Army bombing that killed her father and teenage son, died June 13 at her home in southeast England. Today, he is resolutely lacking in bitterness. Her father was a descendant of European royals and became a career officer in the British Royal Navy, seeing action in World War I. 'Then I remember a sensation, as if I'd been hit with a club, and a tearing sound. Speaking on BBC radio in 2005, Knatchbull said that she believed "if letting him go a year earlier would advance the peace process that was the thing that really mattered. Almost five months passed before she managed to locate them. Unknown to them (or the police who stayed on shore), the IRA had placed a 50-pound bomb under the helm. She played an extremely important part in my life.". They all piled into the boat, with Dickie Mountbatten at the helm. Among them was Mountbatten's daughter Patricia, Lady Brabourne, who was seriously injured. Law School 2000 G Street, NW Washington, DC 20052 (202) 994-8161. Both Lady Brabourne and John Knatchbull were badly injured in the blast - as was their other twin son, Timothy. Is CT recycling going into the trash? The only person convicted in the attack was the bomb-maker, Thomas McMahon. "The royal family were kept informed of our progress and on our return to England they were among a number of close family friends who cared for me while my parents remained in hospital. Knatchbull, titled Countess Mountbatten of Burma and known as Lady Patricia, was the elder daughter of the British World War II military leader Lord Louis Mountbatten, who died in the 1979 bombing aboard his fishing boat off the coast of County Sligo in western Ireland. She was a Vice President of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. He was 80. He was released from prison on licence in August 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement. The groom's parents attended the ceremonies in wheelchairs. "He was a wonderful father," she said, "spending as much time with us as he possible could.". [11], On 15 June 1974, she succeeded her distant cousin Lady Patricia Ramsay, formerly HRH Princess Patricia of Connaught, as Colonel-in-Chief of Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, for whom the regiment was named when Princess Patricia's father, the Duke of Connaught, was Governor General of Canada during the First World War. Part of her own emotional healing involved not succumbing to hatred of the attackers. When will the Beast from the East be at YOUR door? This added to Tim's sense that nothing was properly resolved. He said: "Our families have been historically entwined for nearly two centuries in lineage and friendship. He wrote in his diary the night he learned of his great-uncle's death, A mixture of desperate emotions swept over meagony, disbelief, a kind of wretched numbness, closely followed by fierce and violent determination to see that something was done about the IRA. He added, Life will never be the same now that he has gone and I fear it will take me a very long time to forgive those people who today achieved something that two world wars and thousands of Germans and Japanese failed to achieve.. The Queen and Prince Charles attended the service commemorating the life of Countess Mountbatten. They were determined to overcome their injuries and put every ounce of energy into getting better. "If you are bitter, it consumes you, your family and the people around you," she told the British newspaper the Daily Telegraph in 2008. Mrs Knatchbull's mother-in-law, the Dowager, 83-year old Lady Braebourne would also die from her wounds. Mountbatten was well aware that he was an IRA target. When researching his book 'From A Clear Blue Sky', Timothy Knatchbull, the twin who survived, turned up at the home of Mary Lowry, one of the nurses who cared for him in Sligo. Our Education Directory has everything you could possibly need! Slices of wedding cake were sent to members of the Sligo hospital staff. For Tim it marked the end of his mourning; the final lifting of an emotional burden. Booty Patrol' truck spotted in South Texas, San Antonio woman shows strength of single moms on 'Naked and Afraid', Massive alligator shocks South Texas locals in Atascosa County, Kyle to open first Costco Wholesale this March, Former Boerne quarterback allegedly gave plays to other XFL teams. At the moment of the explosion, my only memory is of a sickening thud and then lying on the bottom of the boat and realising I needed to stay very calm and hold on. Later the party was joined by 15-year-old Paul Maxwell, a friend of the twins, who'd been helping to prepare the boat for its trip. But I just picked myself up and carried on.'. Patricia Edwina Victoria Mountbatten was born in London on Feb. 14, 1924. Hearst Magazine Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Her husband died in 2005. [7], Patricia was educated in Malta, England, and at the Hewitt School[8] in New York City. ', Grief: The murder of Lord Mountbatten, pictured here with the twins as babies, turned the tragedy into a public event. She later called the scars "my IRA facelift.". The comments below have been moderated in advance. REVEALED: Huge sonic boom felt by thousands across the country was caused by RAF Typhoon jets scrambling to DR ELLIE CANNON: My breast has not got lumps but it's itchy, should I be concerned about cancer at age 72? In the late 1970s, when Prince Charles was feeling pressure to find a wife without a past, he turned to Knatchbull's younger daughter, Amanda. It also seriously injured both his parents; he writes that in hospital, 'between the three survivors, we had three functioning eyes and no working eardrums'. Patricia Knatchbull, prince's cousin injured in 1979 IRA bomb attack, dies at 93 She was 93. Michael Patrick Milmoe Law Offices of Leah V. Durant, PLLC 1717 K Street, NW Suite 900 Washington, DC 20006 (202) 775-9200. 'Away we went to the harbour; six of us squeezed into a Ford Granada. 'I was pointing out the lobster pots, which was important, because their lines could get caught in the propeller - but my grandfather didn't seem to be listening. 271 Patricia Knatchbull Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images CREATIVE Collections Project #ShowUs Creative Insights Custom Content EDITORIAL VIDEO BBC Motion Gallery NBC News Archives MUSIC BLOG BROWSE PRICING BOARDS CART SIGN IN Editorial Images Images Creative Editorial Video Creative Editorial FILTERS CREATIVE EDITORIAL VIDEO All Lord Crathorne, writing in the brochure which previewed the sale recalled his time at the home: "Guests at Newhouse were cosseted and made very comfortable. It was he who asked his friendJamesto take a photograph of himand his wife as they recovered in their hospital beds. Mountbatten's daughter Patricia Knatchbull, her husband John Brabourne, and their other son TimothyNicholas's. The fishing boat was full of Mountbatten's relatives, all of whom were injured. 'I went on to the cabin roof to act as lookout,' says Tim. Both died surrounded by their family. In 1943, at age 19, she entered the Women's Royal Naval Service as a Signal Rating and served in Combined Operations bases in Britain, including HMS Tormentor. [15] In September 2012, she unveiled a memorial to the work of the Combined Operations Pilotage Parties at Hayling Island in Hampshire. He knew the risks in coming here, and his death represents a legitimate blow against an enemy target.". "My IRA facelift," she would later call it. After the loss of her son, "I cried every day for over six months," she said, "and intermittently for the next year. She was the elder daughter of Admiral of the Fleet the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma and his wife, the heiress Edwina Ashley, a patrilineal descendant of the Earls of Shaftesbury, first . The best beach in Britain that you've never heard of: Seaside town is braced for tourism boom after Kate Garraway reveals Derek's heartbreaking words when they thought he had just minutes left to live. Images Courtesy of Getty Images. Tragedy: Tim survived the tragedy but was robbed of a proper goodbye to his brother, Nick. She was 93.. In 1946 she married John Knatchbull, who would go on to. McMahon was released from prison in August 1998 as part of the Good Friday agreement. The attendees will include Philomena Barry and her sons, who worked for the Mountbattens on the Classiebawn Estate. Revealed: The top 10 fastest-growing destinations for UK pensioners retiring overseas. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. For many years, his days were regularly punctuated by this noise. The day before, in Galway, he publicly shook hands with Sinn Fin leaderGerry Adams. Prince's yacht frolics with a beautiful brunette, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, TN residents say Jack Daniel's distillery spews black mold, Incredible footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russians in Bakhmut, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' He refused a bodyguard on the trip and insisted the Garda officers kept a watchful eye from a distance rather than up close. Her bridesmaids were Princess Elizabeth, Princess Margaret, Lady Pamela Mountbatten (the bride's younger sister), and Princess Alexandra, daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Kent.[2]. #ada-button-frame { Patricia Knatchbull needed more than 100 stitches to her face, including some to her eyeballs, when she was brought into Sligo General Hospital that August bank holiday Monday afternoon in 1979. I was a 23-year-old local newspaper reporter on the pier in Mullaghmore soon after the carnage happened 38 years ago. She spent much of the rest of her life supporting charities for children and another that helps parents cope with grief. The Countess's niece, designer India Hicks, also attended the ceremony, recounting the Vicar's words during the service in an Instagram post, "'We ask that she go on living in us who have loved her so deeply, in our hearts and minds, in our courage and conscience' said the Vicar at the service for my Aunt today. A most hospitable man, I interviewed James Dugdale at his home in North Yorkshire two years ago. Knatchbull, while in the water, said she remembered advice her father had given after he was once shipwrecked: that she should hold her nose and mouth to prevent drowning. She had died ten days. He was left with permanent damage to his right ear and hearing. She was a great-great-great-granddaughter of Queen Victoria. Tim points out - and it is a tragic irony - that his grandfather would have supported an autonomous Ireland. He has not spoken to his twin since - although he often speaks of him - and for him this is a happy conclusion: he has regained a degree of peace and finally said his proper goodbye to Nick. They raised two daughters and five sons, the youngest the identical twins Nicholas and Timothy. Patricia Tracey was placed on paid administrative leave and retired from the city on March 12, according to Mesa spokesman Steven Wright. Nicholas Timothy Charles Knatchbull (18 November 1964 27 August 1979), killed by an, The Hon. After a serious crash, it is crucial to get help from a great Arizona personal injury attorney who understands the legal standards and practices, who knows how insurance policies function, and who can handle all aspects of an insurance claim so the injured person can focus on recovery. RT 2023. On 26 October 1946 she married John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne (9 November 1924 23 September 2005), at the time an aide to her father in the Far East. He died from injuries received in a tractor crash in Co Leitrim in 1995. Her funeral service took place on 27 June 2017 at St Paul's Church, Knightsbridge, and was attended by the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh and other senior members of the royal family. She spent much of the rest of her life supporting charities for children and another that helps parents cope with grief. Although sold to a new owner, Tim had free access to roam through the castle, which resonated with memories. Their health was considered too fragile. Her casket was borne by a party of pall bearers from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, who were in London on public duties. She had 8 children, entered the Women's Royal Navy Service aged 19, was appointed Deputy Lieutenant of Kent, served as a magistrate and was intimately involved with numerous service organisations. Patricia Knatchbull, Mountbatten's daughter, who was aboard the boat and survived the blast, spoke in the documentary about the traumatic experience. Later writing a book on his experience, called From a Clear Blue Sky (his memory of how the life-changing attack occurred), Timothy Knatchbull would say on his website: "My family and I were relaxed and happy going out onto a flat calm sea in my grandfathers fishing boat. In 2015, Charles struck a much more conciliatory tone, speaking about the effect Mountbatten's murder had on his outlook right before a visit to Mullaghmore. Interactive map reveals when you may see SNOW, PETER HITCHENS: Now we know for sure that our leaders lost their heads over Covid. This was during the height of the "The Troubles," when the Provisional Irish Republican Army was waging a guerrilla war against British rule in Northern Ireland. Posted to Asia, she met her father's aide-de-camp, an army officer and nobleman named John Knatchbull. Was Prince Philips Uncle Involved in a Coup? [9] She was then commissioned as a third officer in 1945 and serving in the Supreme Allied Headquarters, South East Asia. The passengers thrown into the water as stunned villagers rushed to the scene. Knowing this, the IRA planted a 50-pound bomb underneath the boat that was detonated using a remote control. [6] Amanda Knatchbull declined the marriage proposal of Charles in 1980, following the assassination of her grandfather. She was 93. When she returned to Ireland 18 years later, in June 1995, afterher godsonPrince Charles hadmade an official visit, she brought with her a photograph of Nicky, taken when he was two. Nicholas's paternal grandmother, Dorothy Brabourne, later died from her injuries in the hospital, bringing the bombing's total death toll to four. 'We have a great mother on the throne of this country,' he says. The attackers, watching from the distance, set it off once the boat was a few hundreds yards offshore. This is what happened to the Hon Timothy Knatchbull on a bright August bank holiday, 31 years ago. Ministers in clash as farmers fear Britain will be flooded with cheap Mexican and Canadian meat Britain's Special Forces are banned from TikTok and other apps amid fears their accounts could be Mamma Mia! Other victims included her mother-in-law, the Dowager Lady Brabourne and Paul Maxwell, a 15-year-old who was helping crew the boat on the fateful day. Her husband, the celebrated film producer Lord Brabourne, died in 2005. This website and its associated newspaper are members of the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), a radio signal was sent to the boat from a terrorist watching the vessel. Her father was away too, often at sea, but he developed a close bond with his daughter. After operations on her injuries and a period of drifting in and out of consciousness she learned that not only was her father dead, but also one of her twin sons and mother-in-law. 'The rollers were smashing into the cliffs and I was shuttered away, alone in this granite castle consciously constructing the right set of feelings, sounds, sights and smells to reconnect back to a moment in my childhood I had missed; to have a last conversation with Nick. There was no formal farewell to Nick, either. The book contains tender insights into our Royal Family - Tim says that the Queen was like a second mother to him when he was newly bereaved - but what strikes you most about his narrative is its absence of bitterness and sometimes startling candour. Lord Knatchbull died in 2005 at the family home in Mersham. "If my father had survived he would have felt the same way. Patricia required more than 120 stitches to her. I'd choose to come back again as a twin, if I could have you again. Early in World War II, Patricia and her sister Pamela were packed off to the safety of New York, where they lived in the Fifth Avenue mansion of Cornelius Vanderbilt III and his wife, Grace. When the couple wed in 1946, the Queen - then Princess Elizabeth - and Princess Margaret were her bridesmaids. Lady Mountbatten succeeded her father when he was assassinated in 1979, as his peerages had been created with special remainder to his daughters and their heirs male. "Isnt it a beautiful day," she had said. I have a distant memory of the sound of the explosion and of a very violent sensation and then nothing. As viewers of Netflixs hugely popular The Crown will be aware, Lord Mountbatten had been particularly close to Prince Charles and the two corresponded regularly. Kept under wraps for 11 months of the year in the castle's boathouse, it was always prepared for him for his annual visits. Lady Pamela Hicks and Patricia Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma are photographed for Vanity Fair Magazine on February 4, 2013 in London,. He followed his father into the British . As his mother recovered in hospital, unable to speak, she wrote 'Nicky?' There too, having travelled from Sligo, was Caroline Devine, who unlatched the door of Classiebawn Castle and then absented herself to leave the royal visitors their space and their memories in May 2015. .css-5rg4gn{display:block;font-family:NeueHaasUnica,Arial,sans-serif;font-weight:normal;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;margin-top:0;-webkit-text-decoration:none;text-decoration:none;}@media (any-hover: hover){.css-5rg4gn:hover{color:link-hover;}}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:-0.02em;margin:0.75rem 0 0;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.3;letter-spacing:0.02rem;margin:0.9375rem 0 0;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.4;margin:0.9375rem 0 0.625rem;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-5rg4gn{font-size:1rem;line-height:1.4;}}'Outer Banks' Season 3 Arrives in February, Riley Keough Explains Sex Scene With Her Husband. Knatchbull's exceptional life is to be celebrated not only for her royal connections (then-Princess Elizabeth was her bridesmaid at her wedding to filmmaker John Knatchbull), but also for her resilience. Life and education. Patricia Mountbatten was born in London on Valentine's Day 1924 and enjoyed a privileged upbringing in England, Europe and New York. Timothy Knatchbull at his wedding to Isabella Norman outside Winchester Cathedral, July 11, 1998. You woke up. Unstuffy, handsome and full of easy charm, the 45-year-old has embraced fatherhood on an epic scale. Mrs. Knatchbull, titled Countess Mountbatten of Burma and known as Lady Patricia, was the elder daughter of the British World War II military leader Lord Louis Mountbatten, who died in the 1979 bombing aboard his fishing boat off the coast of County Sligo in western Ireland. This was typical of two such exceptional human beings.". Patricia Knatchbull, a grande dame of Britain's titled elite, whose life embraced a fabled childhood between two world wars and deep personal tragedy after her father and teenage son were. Two Garda (Irish police) officers - despatched to shadow the family during his visit - kept a discreet eye out, parking on an overlooking cliff top after the family boarded the boat. In the show, the IRA's statement is read out in a voiceover, and though the exact words seem fictionalized, it's based directly on real IRA sentiment. The day's top stories delivered every morning. The property had been part of the sprawling estate which had been passed down through his family since 1486 and the reign of Henry VII. In 2012, the IRA's former chief of staff, Martin McGuinness shook the hands of the Queen in a symbolic meeting in Belfast. Garda Kevin Henry had escorted them from their holiday base, Classiebawn Castle and he was in the Garda car, overlooking the bay with binoculars close by, when the 50-pound bomb detonated. Lord Mountbatten and his family would often spend their summers in Classiebawn Castle - an imposing country retreat which was inherited by his late wife, Lady Mountbatten - perched on a hilltop in County Sligo on the north west coast of the Republic of Ireland - not far from the Northern Ireland border.