Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
Nation mourns as Prince Philip’s funeral held, but royals had quietly helped family with terrible grief
Away from the spectacle of official engagements The Queen and Prince Philip discreetly supported family in Kent after an IRA bomb claimed the life of the Duke of Edinburgh’s uncle, Louis Mountbatten. Following his funeral at Windsor Castle, Chris Britcher looks back at how relatives came together to help each other following an awful tragedy
At the weekend the nation mourned the loss of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, as his funeral was held at Windsor Castle.
But away from the pomp and circumstance of a life of official engagements with the Queen, there was a spot in Kent the couple cherished - a home not far away from Ashford and the M20.
The home, in Mersham, would play host to frequent private visits by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh - as well as the likes of Prince Charles and Princess Anne. Arriving without fanfare, it was the ideal chance for the noble family to relax; villagers often not aware of their arrival or departure.
For it was the home to two of the Windsors’ most beloved family members - Patricia Knatchbull, the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma, or Lady Brabourne as she was better known locally, and John Knatchbull, 7th Baron Brabourne, often referred to as Lord Brabourne.
Lady Brabourne had long been known to be one of the Queen’s closest confidantes; the pair had been part of the 1st Buckingham Palace Girl Guides company - made up of children of royal household members - when both were youngsters in the 1930s. She was the Queen’s third cousin.
While their Kent home held a special place in the heart of the
royals - it would also forever be tinged with sadness. Because the hosts had been on the very fishing boat blown up by the IRA off the coast of Ireland in 1979 which sent shockwaves around the world. The target was Lord Mountbatten - Lady Brabourne’s father – and known as ‘Dickie’ to the Windsors and uncle to the Duke of Edinburgh. Not only was the Admiral of the Fleet and the last Viceroy of India killed, but so too his grandson, Nicholas Knatchbull, one of Lady Brabourne’s two 14-year-old twin sons. 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.
Both Lady Brabourne and John Knatchbull were badly
injured in the blast - as was their other twin son, Timothy. Yet the couple refused to let the tragedy - which saw her father’s title pass to her - tarnish the rest of their life. “John and Patricia were determined that life at Newhouse would continue to be as welcoming and as normal as possible following that brutal attack on the family,” said Lord Crathorne, a long-time family friend.
“What was so inspiring was the way John and Patricia and indeed the whole family dealt with this tragedy. Their courage, lack of bitterness and generosity of spirit was remarkable. They were determined to overcome their injuries and put every ounce of energy into getting better. This was typical of two such exceptional human beings.”
They had a lot to overcome. The morning of August 29, 1979, was a sunny and warm one. The family would often spend summers in Classiebawn Castle in County Sligo. Lord Mounbatten was keen to get out on his boat, so drove to the nearby fishing village of Mullaghmore. Two Garda (Irish police) officers kept a discreet eye out.
What no-one, apart from IRA high command and those sent to plant it, were to know was a 50lb gelignite bomb had, under cover of darkness the previous night,
been attached to the engine. At 11.46am, they were just a few hundred yards into Donegal Bay when a radio signal was sent to the boat from a terrorist watching the vessel from the cliffs and the bomb detonated. The size of the explosion shook the windows of those living on the mainland; a fireball erupted and a huge plume of smoke rose into the blue skies. The vessel was completely destroyed - turned into splinters. The passengers thrown into the water as stunned villagers rushed to the scene.
Fortunately, the good weather meant other boats, some sailing nearby, were able to go to its aid swiftly.
Lord Mountbatten, 79, was killed instantly, along with youngsters Nicholas Knatchbull and Paul Maxwell, who had been talking to him at the time of the blast.
Lady Brabourne, 55 at the time, recalled, many years later: “All I could remember of the explosion was seeing a ball of light, about the size of a tennis ball, radiating out from beneath my father’s feet. “Then I was in the water, turning over and over. I was certain I was going to drown. “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.”
She was left with serious injuries. Her face needed 120 stitches - including some in her eye-ball. “My IRA facelift,” she would later call it.
The last words she remembered before the blast were those of her mother-in-law. “Isn’t it a beautiful day,” she had said.
John Knatchbull was knocked unconscious and woke as he was being taken back to shore by one of the boats which had come to the rescue. Both his legs were broken. Looking at his wife, he feared she was dying as blood poured from her face. When treated in hospital, it was feared for a while he may lose a leg due to his injuries. Timothy Knatchbull was pulled from the water - his face peppered with splinters generated by the blast. He was unable to see at first and his ears were damaged so struggled to hear. The Dowager Lady Brabourne, was recovered from the water conscious. She demanded the focus be turned on finding the children. She would die, not of her injuries but of shock, the following day. She was 83. The body of Nicholas Knatchbull was the last to be recovered, more than an hour later. 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: “I have a distant memory of the sound of the explosion and of a very violent sensation and then nothing. Until a minute or two later lying in a boat and hearing anxious Irish voices talking at me. “I felt intensely cold and knew that something was awfully wrong with me yet I didn’t quite know what it was.”
He was left with permanent damage to his right ear and hearing.
As his mother recovered in hospital, unable to speak, she wrote ‘Nicky?’ on a scrap of paper passed to a friend and was told he had not made it. She later recalled: “It was overwhelming. I tried to cry but I could not even do that since the pain of the stitches around my eyes prevented me. It was as if a part of myself had died with my son.”
The IRA – the Irish republican paramilitary organisation that wanted an end to British rule of Northern Ireland and were responsible for a pub bombing in Maidstone in 1975, issued a statement later that evening claiming responsibility. Ironically, Lord Mountbatten was one of the few senior figures in the British establishment who supported an autonomous Ireland.
Only one man has been convicted of the attack - Thomas Mcmahon. He was released in 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement which finally brought an end to the conflict. Now in his 70s, he lives with his wife in Ireland.
Lord and Lady Brabourne refused to allow the tragedy to dominate their lives.
Their son, Timothy Knatchbull, said the Windsors helped the family greatly in the aftermath of the tragedy.
He said: “Our families have been historically entwined for nearly two centuries in lineage and friendship. The Duke of Edinburgh is my mother’s first cousin, the Queen is her third cousin and they have both been close to my mother since their childhood.
“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. The Queen and her family are a supportive and loving set of people who were able to do a tremendous amount of good to me personally and also to my wider family.” Prince Charles is godfather to both her and his late identical twin brother.
Lord Knatchbull died in 2005 at the family home in Mersham. He was 80.
Lady Brabourne passed away in 2017 at the home she so cherished. She was 93. The Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince of Wales were among the mourners at her funeral. Timothy Knatchbull is the last survivor of that day and is married with five children. The death of Prince Philip marks the passing of another era defining character - one in which Lord and Lady Brabourne played a significant role.
‘I was in the water, turning over and over. I was certain I was going to drown. I have very vague memories, now and again, of floating among the wood and debris’