David Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven
David Michael Mountbatten, 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven, , styled Viscount Alderney before 1921 and Earl of Medina between 1921 and 1938, was the son of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven and Countess Nadejda Mikhailovna of Torby.
Early years and education
David Michael Mountbatten was born on 12 May 1919. He was the only son of George Mountbatten, 2nd Marquess of Milford Haven, and Russian Countess Nadejda (Nada) Torby, who were married in 1916. His paternal grandparents were Prince Louis of Battenberg and Princess [Victoria of Hesse and by Rhine]. Therefore, he was a great-great-grandson of Queen Victoria. His maternal grandparents were Grand Duke Michael Mikhailovich of Russia and Countess Sophie von Merenberg. He was also a descendant of the Russian writer Aleksandr Pushkin as well as Peter the Great's African protégé, General Abram Petrovich Gannibal.He grew up at the family home in Holyport, Berkshire, and enjoyed a close friendship with his first cousin Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later the Duke of Edinburgh. They both attended Dartmouth Naval College. He served as best man to the prince at his marriage in November 1947 to the Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II.
Upon the death of his father on 8 April 1938, he became the 3rd Marquess of Milford Haven and head of the House of Mountbatten.
Navy and postwar social life
During the Second World War Milford Haven served in the Royal Navy. In 1942, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for taking the destroyer Kandahar (F28)|Kandahar] through a minefield in an attempt to rescue the cruiser Neptune (20)|Neptune]. The following year, he was awarded the Distinguished [Service Cross (United Kingdom)|Distinguished Service Cross] for his work on Malta convoy operations. He retired from the Navy in 1948. He subsequently joined The Castaways' Club, which enabled him to keep in close contact with many of his naval contemporaries.He then played a prominent part in the London demi-monde of the 1950s, which brought together a colourful mix of aristocrats and shadowy social climbers like osteopath Stephen Ward. This hard-partying set formed the nucleus for the Profumo affair.
Marriages
Milford Haven was married twice:- 1) Romaine Dahlgren Pierce, daughter of Vinton Ulric Dahlgren Pierce, of Washington, D.C., and Margaret Knickerbocker Clark, on 4 February 1950 in Washington, D.C.; she was formerly married on 23 May 1946 to William Simpson, son of a millionaire Chicago department store owner and they were divorced in 1954 in Mexico. She married, thirdly, to James B. Orthwein. Romaine was the great-granddaughter of Admiral John A. Dahlgren and the writer Madeleine Vinton Dahlgren. They had no issue.
- 2) Janet Mercedes Bryce, daughter of Major Francis (Frank) Bryce and Gladys Jean Mosley on 17 November 1960 at St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Frognal, London. They had two sons: