It must have been a shock to The Traitors fans to see that one of Season 3’s contestants was Lord Ivar Mountbatten. The Lord is King Charles’ second cousin, and he’s best known for being the first openly gay royal. He came out in 2016 and married his husband in 2018, and ever since then, he’s stepped away from royal duties and has become more of a TV personality.

This brave Lord is now part of the famous murder mystery reality TV show, but who is he? Lord Ivar has made history with his bravery, and he’s now a proud husband, father, and reality TV star.

Lord Ivar Was Married And Had Three Daughters Before Coming Out

Lord Ivar is famous for being the first member of the British Royal Family to publicly come out as gay, but before he came out and married his husband James in 2016, he was married to Penelope Thompson, with whom he had three daughters, Ella, Alix, and Luli. The former couple married in 1994 and separated in 2010. In 2016, Lord Ivar revealed that he was gay, and in 2018, he married his current husband.

While he’s in love and has accepted himself, he admits that he sometimes has a hard time battling old prejudices, and he sometimes finds it weird to say he has a husband.

But the great thing is that his family has been nothing but supportive, including his ex-wife, Penelope, who was his “best woman” when he married James. This support has meant a lot for Lord Ivar, who opened up to Tatler about coming out to his daughters, who reassured him of their unconditional love.

“When I mentioned it to Ella [his eldest daughter] she was very cool about it. All her friends go on weekends where they snog each other, boy or girl, then go back and tell each other. I think that generation are just totally unfazed by it all.”

But it wasn’t only the kids that accepted this. According to Ivar, the older generation was just as supportive.

“The older generation of my family have seen and done it all before. They were quite wayward in the 1940s. My aunt Nada [Nadejda Mountbatten, 2nd Mar­chioness of Milford Haven] was a lesbian. You’ve got to try every­thing once, that’s what my mother always said.”

So, despite how traditional the royal family is, it seems Ivar is surrounded by very supportive people.

Despite Being King Charles’ Second Cousin, He’s Not Very Close To The Royals

A lot of people might be surprised that the royal family is allowing the King’s cousin to appear in a reality TV show, but the truth is, since he’s not one of the senior members and is not really close to them anymore, no one cares what he decides to do with his personal and professional life.

Before fans get rightfully angry, this has nothing to do with Lord Ivar’s decision to come out. The distance between him and the Royals started long before that, and it wasn’t because of any fights or arguments. Life just sent them in different directions.

“The family has got very large,” Lord Ivar explained. ‘When we were younger we went to royal events all the time. But now that everyone has had children, quite rightly everything has slimmed down.”

Still, he reassured people that the royal family never had any problems with him and his marriage.

“They’re very support­ive and think James is brilliant,” he added.

How His Husband Feels About Marrying Someone In The Public Eye

While Lord Ivar might be used to being the center of attention after growing up a royal, his husband James is not at all like that, and it’s taken some adjustment for him. He needed to get used to the attention, first as the spouse of the first openly gay royal, and then as the spouse of a TV personality.

Ivar is not the stereotypical posh royal, so he and James got along instantly when they first met and have a lot more in common than people would think.

“He’s not vain at all, oh my god no,” James laughed about it. “When we first met he had this scraggy beard and was bright red from skiing, having not applied any suncream properly.”

Ivar being down to earth and approachable helped, but James still had to get used to being married to a Lord. Still, he knew what he was signing up for, and never doubted that it was worth it.

When asked if being so exposed bothered him, James simply replied, “There’s no point worrying about anything like that.”

He also said that, most of the time, he ends up enjoying discovering what Ivar’s world has to offer.

“I just take every day as it comes. One thing I will say about Ivar is that you’re always outside your comfort zone. He’s always making me do things I would never have done before. But when I look back I think, ‘Actually, that was quite enjoyable.’ And that’s the thing. You don’t really start to enjoy life until you’re out­side your comfort zone.'”

Now that Lord Ivar is about to become a huge reality TV star, their life is bound to change in a new way, but as long as this power couple sticks together, they can handle anything.

The Traitors is a reality competition series that features celebrity and civilian contestants vying for a grand prize. They must engage in challenges while trying to uncover the traitors in their midst. Based on the Dutch series, The US incarnation of Traitors is hosted by actor Alan Cumming. As the faithful try to avoid being “murdered” by the traitors, the traitors must work together to evade banishment.