Prince Charles and Duchess of Cornwall to visit site of Louis Mountbatten's murder

Home Top

Terror in the air as passengers 'start to pass-out' on airliner: Pilot plunges jet into 7,000ft-a-minute dive and lands - but cause remains a mystery because investigators say cabin pressure did NOT fail
'My baby with Ariel Castro was an angel from my dead mom and having a daughter made me care for my captor': Cleveland 'house of horrors' survivors speak for the first time
Scientists genetically modify a human embryo for the first time: Controversial technique could lead to designer babies
Google launches its mobile network: Project Fi to bring cheaper calls and texts to the US
Race was NOT the reason an entire in Missouri town's police force quit after after black woman mayor was elected, ex-police chief claims
Five nursing students killed in fiery crash on their last day of school when tractor trailer plowed into line of stopped traffic
Girl, 14, who was seized by police in Mexico and returned to her 'mother' in Houston is sent BACK again - because she was the wrong girl
Pictured: British rogue trader accused of causing $860bn Wall Street crash from the modest home he shares with his parents
Coffee isn't made from beans and Everest ISN'T the world's tallest mountain: Experts unveil life's top 50 misconceptions that have become modern day 'facts'
TWO women in the White House race? Carly Fiorina reportedly set for May 4 campaign announcement
The bookkeeper of death who wanted the world to know true horror of Auschwitz even if it means he's jailed for war crimes at 93...
NFL players win $1bn concussion lawsuit that could see former stars win $190,000 each in damages
Dallas NFL star Greg Hardy suspended by NFL for 10 games for allegedly strangling and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend
Odin Lloyd's mother to sue Aaron Hernandez over the murder of he son
Ben Affleck finally admits he is descended from slave-owner on his mother's side after having revelation censored from roots program
Sobbing Utah teacher, 35, admits having sex with three of her male students - in trysts that were so well known that classmates joked: 'Who is Ms Altice sleeping with now?'
Second Oregon jail worker accused of sex with an inmate may use insanity defense as new court filings reveal their blanket-covered trysts and the love letters she penned for him
Teacher, 42, charged with sexual assault 'after sleeping with three of her students'
Changing attitudes and more women cops are behind the soaring numbers of female teachers being prosecuted for sexual assault
Christian school teacher, 27, caught two years after having sexual relationship with student, 15, apologizes for 'taking his innocence'
Outrage as Texas chef is fined $2,000 for feeding the homeless 'because she was serving meals out of the wrong kind of truck'
American transgender woman set to move to UK and marry bride she has never met to fulfil 'lifelong dream' of becoming British
Transgender teen wins legal battle to wear make-up in her driving license photo
Touching vigils held for 900 victims of Mediterranean's 'deadliest ever migrant tragedy' as hundreds more fleeing war-torn Africa continue to flood Europe's shores

Prince Charles to make emotional trip to site where great-uncle was killed
Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed in County Sligo by the IRA 35 years ago
Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are to visit Ireland next month
Visit is being viewed as a positive step towards healing historic wounds

Published: 19:53 EST, 21 April 2015 | Updated: 07:04 EST, 22 April 2015

View
comments

Prince Charles will make an emotional trip to County Sligo where his great-uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed by the IRA 35 years ago.

Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are to visit the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in May in what is seen as a positive step towards healing historic wounds.

They will stop off at the tiny village of Mullaghmore, near Classiebawn Castle, where the Mountbatten family holidayed every August before the IRA attack in 1979.

Tour: The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are to visit the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland in May and will make a trip to County Sligo where his great-uncle Lord Louis Mountbatten was killed by the IRA

Death: Lord Louis Mountbatten, a second cousin to the Queen and great-uncle to Prince Charles, was murdered by the IRA in 1979

At his memorial service, Prince Charles – who had always been close to his great-uncle who he knew as ‘Uncle Dickie’ – attacked ‘the kind of subhuman extremist that blows people up when he feels like it’.

It is understood that Prince Charles will be the first member of the Royal family to visit Mullaghmore.

Next month’s visit will be seen as a major move towards reconciliation and has been welcomed by both Nationalist and Unionist politicians.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams said: ‘I hope this visit will be an occasion to promote reconciliation, respect and understanding.’

Close: Charles pictured with Lord Mountbatten in 1970, nine years before his murder

Childhood: Prince Charles and Princess Anne playing with Lord Mountbatten and his wife in Malta in 1954

Affection: The two men pictured together at a polo match in 1977 as Charles drinks a pint of beer

Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Charlie Flanagan, said: ‘Following the reciprocal state visits of recent years, this visit to Ireland will represent a further expression of the warm and friendly relations which now exist between us.

‘We look forward to their arrival next month, and to a visit programme which reflects the quality of these relations.’

Clarence House said: ‘At the request of the British Government, their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will visit Ireland in May.

Emotional: Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Lord Louis Mountbatten's funeral in 1979

Grief: The prince sheds a tear at the funeral of his great-uncle who he knew as ‘Uncle Dickie’

‘Their Royal Highnesses will also visit Northern Ireland in the same period. The four-day visit to both countries will take place from 19th to 22nd May 2015.

‘Planning is still in progress and more details will be released in due course.’

It is highly unusual for a high-profile royal visit to Northern Ireland to be announced in advance and is testament to how far security concerns have improved in recent years.

THE TERRORIST MURDER WHICH SHOCKED BRITAIN

Earl Mountbatten of Burma was Prince Philip's uncle and a second cousin to the Queen, and had a close relationship with his godson Prince Charles.

After a distinguished military career, during which he commanded the Allied forces in south-east Asia in the Second World War, he became the last Viceroy of India and served as Chief of the Defence Staff.

While holidaying at his summer home in Ireland, Classiebawn Castle, in August 1979, Lord Mountbatten went fishing with several relatives despite security warnings.

When his boat went out to sea, the IRA detonated a remote-control bomb which had been placed on board, blowing up the vessel and fatally wounding Lord Mountbatten.

Home: Classiebawn Castle in County Sligo, where the Mountbattens used to go on holiday regularly

Bay: The coastline at Mullaghmore where Lord Mountbatten was killed in August 1979

Aftermath: Police searching through the wreckage of Lord Mountbatten's boat after he was killed

His 14-year-old son Nicholas Knatchbull and a local teenager who was helping to crew the boat were also killed in the attack, along with the mother-in-law of Lord Mountbatten's daughter.

The IRA immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing, saying: 'This operation is one of the discriminate ways we can bring to the attention of the English people the continuing occupation of our country.'

Gerry Adams, now the president of Sinn Fein, defended the terrorists' actions, claiming that 'what the IRA did to him is what Mountbatten had been doing all his life to other people.'

Lord Mountbatten's funeral was held at Westminster Abbey the next month, and in November 1979 Thomas McMahon was convicted of his murder, before being released in 1998 thanks to the Good Friday Agreement.