BBC Radio Four ‘Midweek’ 30.09.2009

Libby Purves Tim Knatchbull and his family have needed every ounce of determination to live. It’s thirty years since he was blown up on the fishing boat off Ireland in the IRA atrocity which killed Earl Mountbatten, his grandfather, his grandmother Lady Brabourne and the young Irish boat boy, Paul Maxwell and most savage of […]


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Readers’ Letters

A powerful message I was struck by the absence of hate or indeed a desire for revenge. The underlying theme is a powerful message of forgiveness. T Hutchings. August 2022   Humanity thrums from every page A mix of investigative journalism, psychological study and narrative non-fiction I’ve not read before. Humanity thrums from every page. […]


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Readers Comments

A compelling read… …especially if you remember! Tim shares his journey of pain, loss, searching and seeking understanding as he tells his own story of this remarkable family and this terrible event. Anon Kindle Reader   A superb book Beautifully written. Meticulous in its research. Painfully honest without being maudlin. Can’t recommend it enough. HD […]


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News from Timothy Knatchbull

The death of Countess Mountbatten of Burma On Tuesday, June 13th, 2017 the 2nd Countess Mountbatten of Burma (Patricia) died peacefully at her home in Kent surrounded by her children. She was 93. A celebration of her life was held two weeks later at St Paul’s Church in Knightsbridge, London and the following day she […]


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Bibliography

Sacha Abercorn    Feather from the Firebird Virgine Amant Yeats’ Landscapes, Travels with WB Yeats An Crann/The Tree Bear in Mind, Stories of the Troubles Gyles Brandreth Philip & Elizabeth: Portrait of a Marriage Richard Broad & others  The Troubles, The Background to the Question of Northern Ireland Nicky Campbell Blue-eyed Son: The Story of an […]


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Preface to ‘From a Clear Blue Sky’

            We all have a car crash in our lives. To date I have had one; it happened to be a bomb. I was a boy at the time, on a small boat in Ireland. Three of my family and a friend died in the explosion. One of the dead was my identical twin brother Nicholas […]


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Q&A

What was your relationship to Earl Mountbatten of Burma? Lord Mountbatten was my maternal grandfather. His eldest daughter, Patricia, is my mother. After his wife, Edwina Mountbatten, died he devoted himself to his family. He was great fun and shared his grandchildren’s passion for toys and was a great storyteller. I learnt of his connections […]


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  • 'It is one of the most intensely moving stories I have ever read, and I was gripped from the first page.'

    Barbara Taylor Bradford


    'Testament to a remarkable, benevolent soul...With this public love letter he has found a way to say goodbye’. Sunday Times


    ‘It is one of the most penetrating and humane books to have emerged from the Troubles.’

    Irish Independent


    'This amazingly clear-headed and mature book...Intelligent, honest, tender and so moving that it should come with a warning to read this in private because you're going to be in a tear-stained mess.’ Daily Mail


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