The Queen’s Cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, married his boyfriend James Coyle, an airline cabin manager, in a small ceremony in Uffculme in Devon in Britain’s first gay royal wedding. Mountbatten is the great great great grandson of Queen Victoria, though no members of the royal family attended the wedding.

Mountbatten was ‘given away’ by his ex-wife Penelope Thompson, who he was married to for 16 years. They were joined by their three daughters Ella, Alexandra and Louise.

Mountbatten met James on a skiing holiday in 2016 and he came out as gay soon after.

Lord Ivar took to Instagram to thank his close friends and family who had made the first gay royal wedding special:

“Most importantly, a massive thank you to my three gorgeous girls for being so understanding and supportive, without their support this could never have happened! And finally, the biggest thank you to James for being just perfect.”

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Mountbatten, who is the son of the third Marquess of Milford Haven, spoke to The Daily Mail in the past about his experience as a gay man:

“I had a really happy childhood but I could never tell my parents I was gay. Where I grew up, gay men were called poofs, queers, everything derogatory under the sun.”

Lord Ivar told the Mail on Sunday that he is much happier since coming out two years ago:

“Coming out is such a funny phrase but it’s what I suppose I did in a rather roundabout way, emerging to a place I’m happy to be. I have struggled with my sexuality and in some ways I still do; it has been a real journey to reach this point.

“Simply talking about it in public is a huge step for me. Up to this point, I have had a heterosexual lifestyle, so living with a man is really new. One step at a time.”

While Lord Mountbatten and Coyle were able to be legally wed in England, Northern Ireland still remains the only part of the UK without same-sex marriage.