Theodore Mountbatten (born 1 May, 2024)

 The Mail on Sunday and Marlene at @royalmusings.blogspot.com are reporting an addition to the noble House of Mountbatten.

A son was born on 1 May 2024, in London to Henry Louis David (Harry) Mountbatten, styled Earl of Medina (born 19 October, 1991), only son and heir of the 4th Marquess of Milford Haven (born 6 June, 1961), and his 1st wife the former Sarah Georgina Walker (born 17 November, 1961), and his former girlfriend Annabel Elizabeth Bryer (Bella) Buchanan (born 6 January, 1989), daughter of James Edward Denniston Buchanan (born Dec 1956), and his wife the former Suzy Zuleika Bryer Parsons (born 1958).

Lord Medina and Bella, who were a couple for some years, split during the pregnancy and the infant was first registered with the surname Buchanan. It is understood that the Marquess of Milford Haven requested that the baby should take his paternal family name and the baby was re-registered as Mountbatten later in 2024.

Bella Buchanan is a maternal granddaughter of the late TV presenter and actor (Christopher) Nicholas Parsons (1923-2020), and his first wife the actress Denise Pauline Rosalie Bryer (1928-2021).

Baby Theodore, a direct descendant of Queen Victoria and the Romanov Tsars of Russia, cannot use a courtesy title and neither can he eventually succeed to the family honours borne by his grandfather which would have been his birthright had Lord Medina wed Bella prior to the birth. If Theodore had been legitimate he would have been styled Viscount Alderney.

The peerages, Marquess of Milford Haven (cr (United Kingdom, let. pat. 17 Jul 1917), Earl of Medina (United Kingdom, let. pat. 17 Jul 1917), and Viscount Alderney (United Kingdom, let. pat. 17 Jul 1917) will become extinct if Harry Medina fails to produce a legitimate male heir.

Curiously, young Theodore is the first 'Mister Mountbatten' to have been born since the adoption of the surname by the family in 1917. Of course the late Prince Philip was briefly Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, RN, twixt February and November, 1947, when he was created Duke of Edinburgh. The late Earl Mountbatten of Burma left only daughters at his decease, and the Marquess of Milford Haven's only brother, Lord Ivar Mountbatten, is the father of three daughters.

-=-