Penelope Meredith Mary Knatchbull, Countess Mountbatten of Burma (née Eastwood; born 16 April 1953), known between 1979 and 2005 as Lady Romsey and between 2005 and 2017 as The Lady Brabourne, is a British aristocrat and the wife of

Norton Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma Norton Louis Philip Knatchbull, 3rd Earl Mountbatten of Burma (born 8 October 1947), known until 2005 as Lord Romsey and until 2017 as The Lord Brabourne, is a British peer. Life and education Lord Mountbatten was born in Lambeth as the eldest ...

. Since 2010, she has served as High Steward of

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the t ...

Early life

Born in London, she is the only daughter of Reginald Eastwood (1912–1980), founder of Angus Steakhouse, and Marian Hood (1926–2020). She had one younger brother, Peter Eastwood (1955–2013). She grew up and was educated in Switzerland. In 1976, she graduated from the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Marriage and children

On 20 October 1979 at

Romsey Abbey Romsey Abbey is the name currently given to a parish church of the Church of England in Romsey, a market town in Hampshire, England. Until the Dissolution of the Monasteries it was the church of a Benedictine nunnery. The surviving Norman-era c ...

, she married Lord Romsey, son and heir of the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma and the 7th Lord Brabourne. The groom's second cousin,

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

(later King Charles III), served as best man. The wedding took place two months after the assassination of her husband's grandfather, the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma, by an

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

bomb. The family seat is

Broadlands Broadlands is an English country house, located in the Civil parishes in England, civil parish of Romsey Extra, near the town of Romsey in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The formal gardens and historic landscape of Broadlands ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Lady Mountbatten and her husband have three children and three grandchildren: * Nicholas Louis Charles Norton Knatchbull, Lord Brabourne (born 15 May 1981), his father's

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

; married Ambre Pouzet on 20 May 2021 at Broadlands. They have one child: ** The Hon. Alexander Knatchbull (born June 2022) * Lady Alexandra Victoria Edwina Diana Hooper (''née'' Knatchbull; born 5 December 1982); married Thomas Edward Huntly Hooper on 25 June 2016, at

. They have two children: ** Inigo Norton Sebastian Mountbatten Hooper (born 21 December 2017) ** Alden Peter Theodore Mountbatten Hooper (born 27 March 2020) * The Hon. Leonora Louise Marie Elizabeth Knatchbull (25 June 1986 – 22 October 1991). She died of

kidney cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...

at the age of five years and is buried in the grounds of the family home,

. The charity Leonora Children's Cancer Fund was founded in her memory.

Activities

In 2010, she succeeded her husband in the honorary position of High Steward of

after he stepped down due to illness. The position had previously been filled by the 1st Earl Mountbatten of Burma. She was inaugurated on 2 March 2011. Following the death of her daughter, she founded Leonora Children's Cancer Fund which in 2010 merged with The Edwina Mountbatten Trust, founded in memory of Leonora's great-grandmother. The merged charities were renamed The Edwina Mountbatten and Leonora Children's Foundation on 20 February 2014. She has taken on the running of Broadlands following her husband's diagnosis with

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

. Since her marriage, Lady Mountbatten has been in close contact with the British royal family. She frequently attends the

Royal Windsor Horse Show The Royal Windsor Horse Show is a horse show held annually since 1943 for five days in May or June in Windsor Home Park.

as a guest of the royal family. She was particularly close to

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

from the 1990s when they participated in

carriage driving Carriage driving is a form of competitive horse driving in harness in which larger two or four wheeled carriages (sometimes restored antiques) are pulled by a single horse, a pair, tandem or a four-in-hand team. Prince Philip helped to expand ...

competitions. She was one of only 30 mourners at his funeral on 17 April 2021 at

St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle in England is a castle chapel built in the late-medieval Perpendicular Gothic style. It is both a Royal Peculiar (a church under the direct jurisdiction of the monarch) and the Chapel of the Order of the Gar ...

. At her daughter's wedding in 2016, the Prince of Wales gave the bride away. With her daughter Lady Alexandra Hooper, Lady Mountbatten attended the

state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II On 8 September 2022, at 15:10 BST, Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth realms, and the longest-reigning British monarch, died of old age at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, at the age of 96. The Queen's death wa ...

on 19 September 2022.

In popular culture

Lady Mountbatten is portrayed by

Natascha McElhone Natascha McElhone (; born Natascha Abigail Taylor, 14 December 1971) is a British actress. She is a graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. In film, she is best known for her roles in '' Ronin'' (1998), ''The Truman Show'' (19 ...

in the fifth season of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mountbatten of Burma, Penelope Knatchbull, Countess of 1953 births Living people British countesses People from London Alumni of the London School of Economics Penelope Knatchbull