Tonight The Murder of Lord Mountbatten: 3 Days That Shook Britain airs at 9:30pm on Channel 5. Lord Mountbatten was Prince Philip’s uncle and mentor, and second cousin once removed of Her Majesty. Deeply respected in the Royal Family, his death in 1979 sent shockwaves through the nation.

The documentary details the events that led to the murder of the Earl in an IRA bomb by exploring the tense political climate of the Seventies.

The show will also show how IRA member Thomas McMahon was able to access Lord Mountbatten’s Shadow V fishing boat and plant radio-controlled 23kg plastic explosives on board.

Lord Mountbatten usually holidayed at his summer home Classiebawn Castle in the north-west of Ireland, 12 miles from the County Fermanagh border in Northern Ireland. 

When Mountbatten and his party took the boat just a few hundred yards from the shore, the bomb was detonated, killing the 79-year-old.

Read More: Queen ‘definitely up watching’ Emma Raducanu win: ‘Didn’t wait’

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Not only was Mountbatten killed in the blast, but so was his 14-year-old grandson Nicholas, his daughter’s husband’s mother Dowager Lady Brabourne, 83, and a 15-year-old Northern Irish boat hand called Paul.

The attack triggered outrage across the world, while the Queen, who had been close with Lord Mountbatten, received messages of condolence from leaders including US president Jimmy Carter and Pope John Paul II.

Despite her heartbreak at the murder of such a loved family member, the Queen put all this aside in 2012 when she met with then-Sinn Fein Deputy First Minsiter and former IRA commander Mr McGuinness.

Mr Guiness later said he recognized that the Queen’s family had been directly affected by the Troubles.

Speaking in an RTE television interview with Miriam O’Callaghan, Mr McGuinness admitted he spoke of the killing of Lord Mountbatten with the Queen, who had responded “graciously”.

When asked if he felt guilt for the loss of life caused by the IRA, Mr McGuinness said: “There is nothing glamorous or glorious or great about war ‒ war is absolutely terrible. 

“I regret every loss of life, including the loss of British soldiers and those who were close to the Queen of England.”

He added: “I also head-on addressed this issue with the Queen and Prince Philip when I said to them that I recognised that they too had lost a loved one. 

Don’t Miss:
Hungary and Poland threaten EU’s existence: ‘What is left?’[INSIGHT]
Meghan and Harry warned Netflix and Spotify ‘want pound of flesh’[ANALYSIS]
Michael Schumacher’s son opens up on skiing accident: ‘Unfair'[OPINION]

“I did not shy away from the issue because I think there are things that have to be faced up to.”

Mr McGuinness, who died in 2017, previously acknowledged he was a former IRA member, but claimed he left the organisation in 1974.

By 1972, when he was just 21, he was second-in-command of the IRA in Derry, which was a role he held during Bloody Sunday when 14 civil rights protestors were killed in the city by British soldiers. 

Mr McGuinness refused to disclose the Queen’s specific response to their conversation yet stressed that she had been “understanding”.

He said: “She was absolutely understanding of the need for everybody to work together to ensure we don’t go back to the past so that we can continue to move forward. 

“She was very gracious about it.”

The politician said that he found the Queen “very nice” but added “I don’t think that surprises people” after her historic 2011 visit to Ireland where she acknowledged that all sides suffered in the conflict. 

Mr McGuinness’ meeting and subsequent handshake with the monarch was part of a project to extend the “hand of friendship, peace and reconciliation” to unionists.

Prince Charles was also very close with Lord Mountbatten and once described him as “the grandfather [he] never had” to the Belfast Telegraph.

Veteran royal expert Robert Jobson, who wrote 2018 biography Prince Charles at 70: Our Future King claimed the prince considered the Queen’s 2011 Ireland visit the monarch’s “most important legacy”.

Mr Jobson told the Belfast Telegraph: “Many people regard the Commonwealth as the Queen’s greatest achievement during her lengthy reign, but Charles sees her mood-changing visit to Dublin in 2011 as her most important legacy. 

“Both are fixated by Irish Politics.

“While [Lord Mountbatten’s] dreadful murder obviously had a huge impact on the Royal Family, for the Queen and Prince Charles the creation of better political relationships between Ireland and the UK was more important than the personalities involved.”

Watch Lord Mountbatten: 3 Days That Shook Britain tonight at 9:30pm on Channel 5.

Source: Read Full Article