In the autumn of 1979, the Mountbatten family endured a loss that would reshape its future. On August 27th of that year, Louis Mountbatten was killed by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA while on a fishing trip at Mullaghmore Harbor in County Sligo, Ireland. Also killed in the blast were his 14-year-old grandson, Nicholas Knatchbull, and 15-year-old Paul Maxwell, a local boy working as a boat hand. Doreen, Dowager Lady Brabourne, aged 83, died from her injuries the following day.
The attack also wounded Patricia Knatchbull, her husband John, and their son Timothy, Nicholas’s twin brother. The same day, 18 British soldiers were killed in a separate attack at Warrenpoint in County Down, marking one of the deadliest days of the Troubles. Thomas McMahon was convicted of the Mullaghmore murders in November 1979 and released in 1998 under the Good Friday Agreement.
Mountbatten’s funeral was held at Westminster Abbey on September 5th, 1979, before his burial at Romsey Abbey. With his death, his earldom passed to his daughter, Patricia, under a special legal remainder that allowed the title to pass through the female line. Her eldest son, Norton Knatchbull, took the courtesy title of Lord Romsey.
Seven weeks after the burial, on October 20th, 1979, Norton married Penelope Eastwood in the same Romsey Abbey. Prince Charles served as best man. Penelope, the daughter of Reginald Eastwood, who founded the Angus Steak House restaurant chain, became Lady Romsey. The couple made their home at Broadlands, the Hampshire estate on the River Test that had hosted the honeymoon of Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in November 1947.
Broadlands had a long history before the Knatchbulls took it on. It once belonged to Victorian Prime Minister Lord Palmerston and later passed to the Ashley family. In 1939, it became the country seat of Louis Mountbatten and his wife, Edwina. The estate was the setting for the start of the royal marriage of Elizabeth and Philip, who traveled there after their wedding at Westminster Abbey in 1947.
The estate would host another royal honeymoon in 1981, when Charles and Diana spent the first days of their marriage there after their wedding at St. Paul’s Cathedral. By that time, Norton and Penelope had begun their own family. Their son Nicholas was born in 1981, followed by a daughter, Alexandra, in 1982. Diana, Princess of Wales, became Alexandra’s godmother. A third child, Leonora, was born in 1986.
Leonora was diagnosed with kidney cancer as a young child and died on October 22nd, 1991, at the age of five. She was buried on the grounds of Broadlands. In her memory, Norton and Penelope established the Leonora Children’s Cancer Fund. The charity later merged with the Edwina Mountbatten Trust to form the Edwina Mountbatten and Leonora Children’s Foundation.
It was in the years after Leonora’s death that Penelope took up carriage driving. The sport had been Prince Philip’s passion since he gave up polo in 1971. He had served as president of the Fédération Equestre Internationale from 1964 to 1986 and helped draft the first international rules for competitive carriage driving. He competed for Britain in European and world championships and published a book on the subject in 1982.
Penelope entered the sport with Philip’s encouragement, and the two became regular training partners and competitors. Photographs from Windsor and Sandringham over many years showed them driving together. The sport demands skill across three phases: a dressage test, a marathon course with water obstacles, and a cones phase where drivers must navigate a tight course without knocking balls off the cones.
Their shared pursuit placed Penelope in a visible position within royal circles. She was received as a guest at Balmoral, Sandringham, and Windsor over many years. The Queen was reported to regard her as a friend in her own right. Tabloid coverage speculated about the closeness of her friendship with Philip, but no evidence of anything improper was ever published, and the palace did not comment.
Two books discussed the friendship. Giles Brandreth’s *Philip and Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage*, published in 2004, placed it within a broader account of Philip’s long marriage. Ingrid Seward’s *Prince Philip Revealed*, published in 2020, described the friendship as close but not improper.
In 2010, British newspapers reported that Norton had left Broadlands for another woman and gone abroad. The relationship reportedly ended, and he returned. The marriage did not end, and Penelope remained at Broadlands throughout the period.
Patricia, the second Countess Mountbatten of Burma, died on June 13th, 2017, at the age of 93. The earldom passed to her son, Norton, who became the third Earl Mountbatten of Burma. Penelope, who had been Lady Romsey for nearly four decades, became Countess Mountbatten of Burma.
That same year, Philip retired from public duties. He spent his final years largely at Wood Farm on the Sandringham estate, where Penelope continued to visit and drive with him. He died at Windsor Castle on April 9th, 2021, two months short of his 100th birthday.
On April 15th, 2021, Buckingham Palace published the names of the 30 people who would attend Philip’s funeral. The number was fixed by COVID restrictions in force at the time. Penelope was on that list. Norton was not. No reason was given.
The funeral took place on April 17th, 2021, inside St. George’s Chapel at Windsor. The Queen sat alone in her pew under the distancing rules. Among the 30 mourners, most held a connection to Philip through blood or marriage. Penelope’s connection ran through her marriage to Norton, whose family tie to Philip came through Mountbatten rather than through a direct line to Philip himself.
Nearly a year later, on March 29th, 2022, a service of Thanksgiving for Philip’s life was held at Westminster Abbey with a far larger congregation. Penelope’s presence was reported as optional rather than expected. The Queen died at Balmoral on September 8th, 2022.
In November 2022, the television drama *The Crown* released a season that included a dramatized portrayal of the friendship between Philip and Penelope. The series drew on the public record but remained a scripted drama rather than a documentary account.
Penelope has never given an interview about Prince Philip. Across decades of speculation, two biographies, a television portrayal, and a funeral list, she has left no public statement of her own on the record. Broadlands still stands above the River Test, its grounds holding the grave of her daughter and the memory of a royal honeymoon. The foundation established in Leonora’s memory continues its work.