Royal Family: Lord Ivar marries new husband in first ever Royal same sex marriage

Lord Ivar Mountbatten might not be the most famous member of the Royal Family, but at the weekend he made history.

The 55-year-old, who is a cousin of The Queen, tied the knot with his partner James Coyle on Saturday, which is officially the first ever same-sex marriage in the ruling British monarchy.

The happy couple exchanged vows and rings in a private chapel in Bridwell Park, Uffculme, Devon in front of 60 guests, including Ivar's three daughters.

Ivar amicably divorced from his wife Penny in 2011 and the two have remained such good friends that she gave him away at the ceremony, something which was confirmed by Ivar three months ago on Instagram.

Despite his royal connections, there were no immediate members of the royal family in attendance, but he is said to have received lots of good wishes and congratulations, most notably from his long-term friend Prince Edward.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ivar explained why Edward and Sophie, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, couldn't attend the wedding.

Their diaries are arranged months in advance and they were not free but they adore James.

Guests at the wedding were encouraged not to give gifts but to instead donate to the spinal injury charity Regain.

Their honeymoon, which will take place later this year, will be in either Greece or Croatia.

Ivar admits that he has known he was bisexual since he was 17 but didn't come out until two years ago, and confesses to having struggled with his sexuality throughout the 17 years of his previous marriage.

He met Glasgow-born James in 2014 at an alpine resort in Verbier, Switzerland. There are no plans for either man to change their names but he did tell the Mail why they chose to wed.

I suppose if we had met ten years ago a civil partnership would have been nice, but now that marriage between a man and a man is legal it seems the right thing to do.

I have had the whole marriage thing — and been very happy — but James hasn’t, so I see it as a validation of my love for him.

HT Uni Lad

More: The majority of British people support same-sex marriage in Northern Ireland