Royal Family announces first lesbian wedding 5 years after Queen's cousin married his husband

In centuries gone by, royal marriages were purely contractual arrangements which were drawn up to ensure the greatest alliance between two families. While that was still going on for many years into the 20th century, unions today are more founded on love and better reflect the modern world.

This principle has been illustrated in recent days as a distant relative of King Charles has announced her engagement to her girlfriend. It has been revealed that Ellen Lascelles, the niece of David Lascelles, Earl of Harewood will marry her Australian fiancée Channtel McPherson.

While this may seem like a first for the Royal Family, Ellen is in fact the second of the extended royals to be in a same-sex relationship as the late Queen's third cousin, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, married his husband in 2018 after divorcing his wife several years earlier.

The Lascelles family have many ties to the Royal Family, the most well-known of which is how the late Queen's aunt, Princess Mary, married Henry Lascelles, 6th Earl of Harewood and had two sons, George and Gerald.

The links continue as the late monarch maintained a close relationship with her two cousins and was pictured with their families many times over the years. The current Earl of Harewood is David Lascelles and his family will surely be delighted at the news that his niece, Ellen Lascelles, got engaged to her fiancée recently in Australia.

In a recent Instagram post, Ellen shared her exciting news, writing: "On New Year’s Day, Chan asked me to marry her, and turned what was an incredible 2022 into an even more incredible 2023. Two proposals in one day, plus a cat ring to seal the deal until we get a real engagement ring made."

ivar© ITV

Ellen isn't the first member of the extended Royal Family to be in a same-sex relationship as Lord Louis Mountbatten's great-nephew, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, married his husband, James Coyle, in 2018.

Lord Ivar was previously married to Penelope Thompson between 1994 and 2011 and has three daughters: Ella, Alix and Luli Mountbatten. After their divorce, Ivar married airline cabin services director James in 2018 and the couple live in Devon at the Bridwell Park Estate.

In an interview with Tatler Ivar spoke about his family's reaction when he came out as gay explaining: "The older generation of my family have seen and done it all before. They were quite wayward in the 1940s. My aunt Nada [Nadejda Mountbatten, 2nd Mar­chioness of Milford Haven] was a lesbian. You've got to try every­thing once, that's what my mother always said." 

Reference: My London: Story by Rebecca Russell