Lord Mountbatten, late Queen Elizabeth’s cousin, has been accused of assaulting an 11-year-old boy at a children’s home in a case brought 43 years after his death.
The abused who identifies as Arthur Smyth alleged the Royal molested him twice at the infamous Kincora children’s home in Northern Ireland in 1977.
Safe to mention that Lord Mountbatten, Prince Philip’s uncle and King George VI’s second cousin, was assassinated two years later when the IRA planted a bomb on his yacht.
Following the abuse allegations being promulgated, the High Court in Belfast is set to hear allegations that he abused a boy at the children’s home, according to the ‘Mail Online’.
The now 56-year-old Mr. Smyth, claims that after arriving at the home, he was abused by staff member William McGrath.
He claims that in August 1977, Mr. McGrath introduced him to an ‘upmarket’ stranger who preyed on him twice.
He stated to the Sunday Life, “McGrath would say, “You are going to meet a special friend”. And I went, “Oh really?” And that’s when he took me into that room – downstairs there was a big office, with a big desk and there was a shower.
“The stranger’s name was never mentioned in the room. He made me have a shower and then McGrath would come down and get me afterwards.”
He added that he only realised who his abuser was upon hearing about Lord Mountbatten’s murder in 1979.
Mr. Smyth, who currently resides in Australia, noted, “You don’t forget who abused you. Trust me. You block it out but you don’t forget. I shut it down for years. I felt embarrassed by what had happened but now I want peace.”
Kevin Winters, Mr Smyth’s lawyer, said, “This is the first time that someone has stepped forward to take allegations against Lord Mountbatten into a court.
“That decision hasn’t been taken lightly. He understands only too well that it will be a deeply unpopular case with many people, coming as it does within weeks of the passing of the Queen.
“However, litigation involving mental, physical and sex abuse isn’t undertaken to deliberately offend sensitivities.”
The Department of Health and the Chief Constable of the Northern Ireland Police Service are also named in the civil legal action against Lord Mountbatten.
